THE  LIBRARIES 


Bequest  of 

Frederic  Bancroft 

1860-1945 


FRANCIS    ASBURY 


AS    HE    APPEARED    AT   THE   TIME    OF    HIS    ELECTION    TO   THE 
EPISCOPACY,    IN    1784. 


FRANCIS  ASBURY 


A  BIOGRAPHICAL 
STUDY 


By  HORACE  M.  DU  BOSE,  D.D. 

Author  of  the  Symbol  of  Methodism 


METHODIST  FOUNDERS'  SERIES 


NASH^^LLE,  Tenn.  ;  Dallas,  Tex. 

Publishing  House  of  the  i>I.  E.  Church,  South 
Smith  &.,  La:viah,  »4-<^Eir/F.    ■ 


^S 


7^2E 


PUBLISHERS'  NOTE. 


The  Founders'  Series  of  biographies  is  to  embrace, 
in  volumes  of  uniform  size  and  style  of  binding,  studies 
in  the  lives  of  eminent  leaders  of  Methodism  in  the 
earlier  and  middle  periods  of  its  histor>'.  The  design 
of  these  volumes  is  to  revivify  in  a  new  and  fresh 
portraiture  the  personalities  and  labors  of  the  founders 
of  our  Church.  In  issuing  the  present  as  the  initial 
volume  of  this  series  the  publishers  indulge  the  belief 
that  they  have  given  a  foretaste  of  v/hat  the  scheme 
means  not  only  in  renewing  the  memory'  but  also  in 
reviving  the  testimony  of  those  great  ones  in  whose 
hands  the  truths  of  the  gospel  were  made  mighty  in 
the  salvation  of  men.  The  hope  is  that  through  the 
reading  of  these  volumes  many  of  the  men  of  to-day 
may  imbibe  a  fuller  measure  of  the  spirit  and  zeal  of 
their  illustrious  spiritual  forebears. 


•  •      •  •    « 

*  e  «.    »       • 


Copyright,   1909, ' 

SiMlTa    &'La.MAr'.  ' 


CONTENTS. 

Chapter  I. 

Page. 

The  Peasant's  Son 9 

Chapter  II. 
A  Propulsive  Experience 20 

Chapter  III. 
*  The  Wesleyan  Helper 31 

Chapter  IV. 
Bringing  Up  the  Balance 40 

Chapter  V. 
A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness 49 

CHAPTElt  VI. 
Under  the  Stress  of  DiscipHne 63 

Chapter  VII. 
Faith  against  Swords 74 

Chapter  VIII. 
A  Mastery  of  Spirits S6 

Chapter  IX. 
The  New  American 99 

Chapter  X. 
An  Apostle  by  Proof 113 

Chapter  XI. 

Pledging  History 130 

f3> 


4  Francis  Asbury. 

Chapter  XII.  p 

*  Wrestling  with  Great  Problems 144 

Chapter  XIII, 
In  the  Century's  Twilight 161 

Chapter  XIV. 
Answering  the  New  Age I77 

Chapter  XV. 

•  Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution 194 

Chapter  XVI. 
In  Apostolic  Fellowship 208 

Chapter  XVII. 
The  Sunset  Vision 223 


PROLOGUE. 

Two  names  are  immortal  in  Methodism,  and  must 
remain  transcendent  in  its  history.  One  of  these 
appertains  to  the  Old  World,  and  one  to  the  New. 
The  names  of  John  Wesley  and  Francis  Asbury  are 
suggestive  of  that  holiness,  self-devotion,  and  resource- 
fulness of  leadership  which  have  made  Methodism  the 
most  effective  religious  force  that  has  appeared  since 
the  apostolic  days. 

The  study  of  early  Methodist  biography  is  a  certain 
means  of  preserving  Methodist  ideals.  Truth  and 
providence  embody  themselves  in  human  life,  and  are 
thus  borne  across  the  tracts  of  time  and  space,  as  are 
precious  odors  in  the  urns  in  which  they  have  been 
confined.  This  study  will  also  lead  to  the  develop- 
ment of  a  new  evangelism.  The  spirit  of  the  men  of 
the  early  Methodist  era  was  such  as  quickly  reincar- 
nates itself  when  a  sympathetic  contact  is  made  with 
their  times. 

It  is  with  a  view  to  promoting  a  return  to  these 
early  sources  of  inspiration  that  I  have  undertaken 
to  conduct  a  sympathetic  and  discriminating  study  of 
the  life  and  work  of  that  apostolic  man,  Francis 
Asbury. 

Icelandic  spar  has  its  lines  of  refraction  so  nearly 
coincident  with  those  of  water  that  a  fragment  of  that 
crystal  immersed  in  water  becomes  invisible.  The 
personal  history  of  Francis  Asbury  coincides  so  com- 
pletely with  the  history  of  early  American  Methodism 
that  one  sees  through  the  story  of  the  apostle,  as 

(5) 


6  Francis  Asbury. 

through  transparent  crystal,  the  outHnes  of  the  age 
in  which  he  wrought.  The  Church  was  the  travail 
of  the  apostle's  faith  and  love.  American  Methodists 
have  neither  used  nor  honored  the  memory  of  Asbury 
as  they  should.  There  is  inexcusable  ignorance  of 
his  great  work  and  of  his  great  claims  upon  Ameri- 
cans in  general.  There  is  indeed  a  persistent  tradition 
which  keeps  his  name  familiar,  and  which  suggests 
that  he  is  entitled  to  an  indefinite  place  in  the  category 
of  innumerable  saints,  but  there  is  no  distinct  and  vital 
perception  of  the  man  as  the  chief  maker  of  a  great 
religious  commonwealth  of  which  all  Americans  are 
either  members  or  beneficiaries.  There  is  almost  no 
recognition  of  tlie  man  for  what  he  was  in  a  pre- 
eminent degree — namely,  one  of  the  makers  and 
fathers  of  the  temporal  fabric.  So  abstractly  devoted 
to  his  apostolic  mission,  so  utterly  not  of  this  world, 
was  he  in  motive  and  act  that  liis  own  spiritual  insist- 
ency impressed  the  temporal  lords  and  teachers  to  the 
point  of  forgetting  or  overlooking  the  service  which 
he  rendered,  over  and  above  his  apostolic  office,  to  the 
State  and  to  secular  civilization. 

The  personal  and  official  influence  which  Asbury 
exercised  for  nearly  half  a  century  upon  the  pioneer 
communities  of  the  republic  gave  them  not  only  a  most 
distinct  religious  momentum,  but  hedged  them  about 
with  social  restraints  that  formative  constitutions  and 
feebly  enforced  statutes  could  not  have  maintained 
alone.  The  direct  annual  contact  of  this  man  of  com- 
m.anding  individuality  and  holy  life  with  the  groups 
of  squatters  and  pioneers  in  the  unpoliced  wilderness- 
es, and  the  sentry-like  round  of  his  personally  directed 
army  of  itinerants,  supplied  a  lack  in  the  civil  author- 


Prologue.  7 

ity  that,  left  uncured,  had  doomed  our  great  Middle, 
Western,  and  Southern  commonwealths  to  distressing 
moral  deficiencies,  if  not  entailments  of  deadly  moral 
diseases. 

It  is  a  plain  word,  but  a  true,  that  Francis  Asbury 
has  not  had  from  either  the  religious  or  the  secular 
side  of  the  republic  a  just  recognition  of  his  place  and 
service  in  our  national  history.  As  for  a  monument, 
history  made  and  protected,  the  Methodist  Church  is 
in  evidence.  But  the  spiritual  offspring  and  successors 
of  the  apostolic  pioneer  have  not  even  been  diligent 
to  see  that  his  name  is  set  upon  the  monument  which 
history  has  built  for  him.  Here  and  there  a  humible 
chapel  bears  that  august  name,  while  lesser  names  of 
his  successors  monopolize  great  piles,  and  are  per- 
petuated to  posterity  by  institutions  of  augmenting  re- 
sources and  cumulative  ministries.  Why  should  not 
some  dominating  minster,  some  monumental  institu- 
tion representing  the  combined  loyalty  and  gratitude 
of  all  Methodism,  attest  its  memory  of  the  patri- 
arch ? 

I  insist  also  that  a  more  pointed  inquiry  may  be 
directed  against  the  neglect  of  at  least  certain  of  the 
States  of  the  eighteenth  century  republic.  Particu- 
larly the  commonwealths  of  Maryland,  Virginia,  the 
Carolinas,  Georgia,  Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee 
owe  this  man  a  secular  as  well  as  a  spiritual  recogni- 
tion. While  their  fabrics  endure  the  toils,  the  sacri- 
fices, the  large-visloned  services  of  this  man  will  be 
a  cement  and  a  bond  in  their  foundations.  It  wants 
now  but  seven  years  to  com.plete  a  century  since  his 
quiet  going  from  amongst  men.  Surely  the  time  has 
come  for  the  payment  of  a  historic  debt. 


8  Francis  Asbury. 

What  is  strangest  still  in  all  this  ill-fulfilled  obli- 
gation is  tliat  no  master  of  the  pen  has  taken  it  as  his 
crowning  task  to  fully  and  historically  portray  this 
initial  exponent  of  the  chiefest  religious  order  of  the 
New  World.  More  than  one  faithful  and  reverent- 
minded  man  has  treated  it  as  a  work  of  love,  but  each 
has  submitted  his  tribute  as  confessedly  insufficient, 
and  as  a  pledge  and  hope  of  something  completer, 
more  ideal.  In  the  present  volume  I  have  aspired 
to  pass  at  least  a  little  beyond  the  boundaries  of  other 
biographers  of  Asbury  in  an  effort  to  produce  not  so 
much  a  detailed  narrative  of  his  wonderful,  simple 
ministry  as  to  construct  from  the  details  of  the  nar- 
rative a  portrait  of  the  wonderful,  simple  man.  If  I 
shall  but  be  recognized  as  a  pioneer  in  this  newer  and 
truer  study,  I  will  count  the  result  a  sufficient  reward 
of  my  labors. 


FRANCIS  ASBURY. 


CHAPTER  L 
The  Peasant's  Son. 

The  accidents  of  birth  count  for  little.  Francis 
Asbury,  the  real  founder  and  first  bishop  of  the  Meth- 
odist Church  in  North  America^  was  born  the  son  of 
an  English  peasant,  and  passed  his  early  years  under 
conditions  that  spoke  no  syllable  of  prophecy  concern- 
ing the  illustrious  career  he  was  destined  to  complete. 

The  story  of  Asbury's  childhood  as  told  by  himself 
is  of  meager  and  homely  detail,  and  he  even  leaves  us 
in  doubt  as  to  the  exact  date  of  his  birth.  This  he, 
however,  fixes  as  either  the  20th  or  21st  day  of  August, 
1745.  The  terseness  with  which  he  has  sketched  the 
entire  chapter  of  his  early  life  is  exceedingly  tanta- 
lizing ;  but  as  no  other  hand  known  to  us  has  attempted 
to  enlarge  the  record,  we  must  be  content  to  draw 
from  the  brief  and  unembellished  autobiography. 

The  spot  made  famous  as  the  birthplace  of  Asbury 
is  described  in  his  journal  as  being  situated  ''near  the 
foot  of  Hampstead  Bridge  in  the  parish  of  Hands- 
worth,  about  four  miles  from  Birmingham  in  Staf- 
fordshire." But  that  was  Birmingham  of  the  first  half 
of  the  eighteenth  century.  The  Birmingham  destined 
to  see  the  perfecting  of  the  steam  engine  and  the 
steel  furnace,  and  to  become  the  synonym  of  industrial 
magic,  long  ago  Inclosed  within  its  wide-reaching  sub- 
urbs the  site  of  the  peasant  father's  cot,  so  that  much 

(9) 


lo  Francis  Asbury. 

concerning  even  its  identity  must  be  left  to  conjecture. 
But  of  how  little  consequence  is  this !  Homer  is 
Homer,  wherever  his  birthplace.  The  main  signifi- 
cance of  Asbury's  life  belongs  to  another  hemisphere 
than  that  which  held  the  once  green  fields  and  bucolic 
homics  of  Handsworth  parish. 

The  efforts  of  well-meaning  biographers  to  amend 
the  social  rank  of  Asbury 's  family  are  without  profit, 
as  they  are  without  justification.  Joseph  Asbury,  the 
father  of  Francis,  was  of  humble  antecedents,  and  the 
lineage  of  his  mother  was  no  prouder.  Asbury  him- 
self plainly  says  that  his  parents  belonged  to  the  stock 
of  the  common  people.  As  a  means  of  livelihood  the 
father  followed  gardening  for  the  rich  fam.ilies  of  the 
parish.  Moreover,  his  plainness  of  intellect  comported 
with  his  rank  and  fortune,  and  suggests  no  explana- 
tion in  heredity  of  the  greatness  of  the  son.  He  ap- 
pears to  have  found  time  outside  of  his  days  of  hire 
to  cultivate  the  scanty  acres  that  lay  about  his  cottage, 
itself  leased  from  some  feudal  landlord.  The  produce 
of  these  acres,  with  his  wages,  constituted  his  entire 
income.  The  family  of  which  he  was  the  head  ate 
its  bread  in  the  sweat  of  one  honest  face. 

A  somewhat  sinister  touch  has  been  given  the  para- 
graph devoted  by  most  of  the  bishop's  biographers  to 
the  elder  Asbury.  This  appears  to  have  come  about 
mainly  in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  a  definite 
testimony  from  the  son,  whose  account  of  his  parent 
is  summed  up  in  a  few  respectful  allusions.  The  nega- 
tive record  is  not  an  impeachment,  nor  even  a  depre- 
ciation. Beyond  any  doubt,  Joseph  Asbury  was  a 
man  of  real,  if  still  of  simple,  worth.  He  had  excellent 
points,  and  though  evidently  not  of  an  assertive  spirit, 


The  Peasant's  Son.  Ii 

enjoyed  the  respect  of  honest  men  and  the  reverence 
of  his  own  household.  In  such  faith  and  sturdiness 
as  his  the  Commonwealth  of  England  has  been 
grounded  since  Runnymede,  and  these  also  furnished 
the  soil  in  which  the  seeds  of  the  Wesleyan  revival 
took  ready  and  lasting  root. 

The  mother  of  Asbury,  like  the  mother  of  the  Wes- 
leys,  was  devout  and  actively  religious.  Moreover,  she 
was,  for  her  station,  a  woman  of  exceptional  intelli- 
gence, and  this  counted  in  the  rearing  of  her  son  for 
more  than  enhanced  rank  or  fortune.  Her  mianner  was 
serious  and  quiet,  and  her  judgment,  tempered  by  an 
unfailing  charity,  was  always  clear  and  safe.  In  his 
maturer  years  the  son  extolled  her  as  "the  tenderest 
of  mothers,"  and  it  is  certain  that  the  affectionate  en- 
comium was  merited.  The  early  death  of  an  only 
daughter  had  chastened  her  spirit  and  greatly  accen- 
tuated her  devotional  habits.  In  his  journal  the  Bish- 
op has  drawn  a  picture  of  his  mother  as  he  saw  her 
in  his  childhood  days  "standing  by  a  large  window 
poring  over  a  book  for  hours  together."  The  touch 
is  simple  enough,  but  in  connection  with  the  reader's 
instinctive  remembrance  of  a  tiny  mound  white  with 
hawthorn  petals  in  Handsworth's  ancient  church- 
yard it  takes  on  the  sanctity  and  beauty  of  an  el- 
egy. 

Asbury 's  strong  early  moral  and  religious  bent  may 
well  be  supposed  to  have  come  from  his  mother, 
though  in  the  matter  of  training  their  son  she  was 
not  without  sympathy  and  help  from  her  husband. 
Both  were  zealous  members  of  the  Established 
Church,  and  in  their  humble  home  they  kept  alight 
the  lamp  of  prayer.    Nor  was  that  home  a  stranger  to 


12  Francis  Asbury. 

outside  influences.  So  alert  and  spiritually  sympa- 
thetic was  Elizabeth  Asbury  that  she  constantly  at- 
tracted to  her  hearthstone  religious  teachers  capable 
of  imparting  the  soundest  and  most  helpful  instruc- 
tion. In  time  she  came  herself  also  to  be  a  leader  of 
devotional  meetings  held  amongst  her  female  neigh- 
bors. Thus  she  created  about  the  life  of  her  only  son 
unusual  religious  conditions,  the  influences  of  which 
wrapped  his  after  years  in  solitudes  of  apostolic  sanc- 
tity. 

But  for  the  knovvledge  which  we  have  of  this  ma- 
ternal devotion  and  care,  and  the  simply  fervent  reli- 
gious atmosphere  pervading  his  early  home,  it  would 
be  difficult  to  receive  unquestioningly  the  account 
given  by  the  Bishop  in  after  years  of  his  boyish  recti- 
tude. The  climax  of  this  early  ethical  sense  is  ex- 
pressed in  the  declaration  that  he  had  ''neither  dared 
an  oath  nor  hazarded  a  lie."  Scarcely  less  exception- 
al is  the  testimony  that  when  his  early  companions 
were  found  to  be  vile  he  could  not  join  them  in  their 
offenses,  but  grieved  in  secret  over  their  impurities. 
The  world  has  had  its  souls  of  childhood  over  which 
the  Epiphany  of  Bethlehem  has  prevailed.  There  have 
been  those  who  were  sanctified  from  their  mothers' 
wombs,  nor  do  they  belong  wholly  to  the  ancient 
world.  The  name  of  the  peasant's  son  for  whom  was 
reserved  the  apostleship  of  the  New  World  is  not  un- 
worthy to  be  mentioned  with  those  of  Isaiah  and  John 
the  Baptist.  The  soul  that  sacrificed  and  toiled  and 
grew  ever  whiter  and  stronger  preaching  the  gospel 
in  the  American  v/ilderness  had  drawn  its  life  from 
far-off  sources  and  through  channels  of  unwonted 
purity.     It  indeed  belonged  to  a  "mysterious  order," 


The  Peasant's  Son.  13 

and  employed  in  its  active  testimony  "the  unused  and 
unsuspected  forces  that  shunbcr  in  rehgion." 

Poor  at  best  were  the  educational  advantages  pro- 
vided for  the  peasant  children  of  England  in  the  eight- 
eenth century,  but  they  were  often  rendered  still  fur- 
ther impossible  by  reason  of  the  brutal  system  of  peda- 
gogy then  in  vogue.  This  system  has  been  mercilessly, 
though  only  too  justly,  caricatured  by  Charles  Dick- 
ens in  ''Nicholas  Nickleby,''  in  the  methods  credited 
to  "Old  Squeers"  of  "Do-the-boys-Hall."  The  mas- 
ter of  the  Staffordshire  school  to  which  young  Asbury 
was  sent  proved  to  be  a  veritable  "Old  Squeers."  The 
piously  reared  lad  lacked  the  pugnacity  of  a  Nickleby ; 
perhaps  he  lacked  a  certain  wholesome  worldly-mind- 
edness,  and  so  did  not  resist  the  tyrant  of  the  ferrule. 
Instead,  when  beaten  by  the  churlish  master,  he  had 
recourse  to  tears  and  prayers  in  secret,  but  the  gen- 
eration of  Squeers  neither  heard  prayers  nor  indulged 
in  the  foible  of  mercy. 

Largely  as  the  result  of  the  cruelty  which  was  vis- 
ited upon  him,  but  possibly  also  because  of  the  absence 
of  educational  ideals  in  his  parents,  pious  and  devoted 
though  they  were,  it  was  decided  that  the  future  Bish- 
op should  make  his  way  without  further  training  in 
school.  Piety  and  probity  are  not  always  wisdom; 
even  love,  the  master  passion  of  the  human  breast,  is 
fallible,  often  even  to  blindness.  But  when  God  and 
nature  fashion  a  great  man  they  not  only  set  a  sign 
upon  his  outward  members,  but  they  leave  a  secret 
in  his  heart  which  he  must  needs  manifest  in  spite 
of  lagging  fortune  or  imperfect  ministries.  In  a  time 
when  unseen  forces  wrought  upon  him,  the  son  of 
the  peasant  manifested  his  secret;  but  in  tender  years 


14  Francis  Asbury. 

he  was  withdrawn  from  school  and  did  not  again  take 
up  seriously  the  pursuit  of  knowledge  until  a  maturer 
age  and  a  newer  inspiration  set  him  upon  the  difficult 
task  of  self-help.  Nevertheless,  at  the  age  of  seven 
he  had  learned  to  read,  and  found  in  the  heroic  books 
of  the  Bible  a  literature  that  stirred  his  thought,  so 
genuinely  insinuating  and  inspiring  are  those  match- 
less epics  and  chronicles  of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures. 

As  well  as  can  be  judged  from  the  scrappy  material 
upon  which  we  are  building,  >^he  cutting  short  of  As- 
bury's  school-going  occurred  some  time  after  he  had 
entered  his  eleventh  year.\  He  must  therefore  have 
had  three  or  four  years  of  more  or  less  continuous 
training,  which  will  account  for  the  fairly  rudimentary 
foundation  on  which  his  later  learning  was  built. 

An  education  being  now  no  longer  considered,  the 
lad  must  begin  to  earn  his  own  bread.  To  that  end 
service  was  accepted  for  him  in  the  house  of  a  Staf- 
fordshire gentleman  of  rank  and  means,  and,  as  the 
story  goes,  of  ungodly  life  and  habits.  Nothing  more 
certainly  argues  the  humble  state  of  the  Asbury  family 
than  this  going  of  the  only  child,  while  yet  of  tender 
years,  into  service.  Nothing  short  of  necessity  could 
have  induced  the  pious  gardener  and  his  wife  to  con- 
sent to  such  an  arrangement  for  their  son.  But  it 
betrayed  their  homely  view  concerning  the  career  to 
v/hich  providence  had  destined  their  offspring.  Peas- 
ants they  were,  nor  could  they  look  beyond  the  hori- 
zon of  their  peasant  lives;  or  if  so,  they  dreamed  not 
how  it  might  be  widened  for  them  or  theirs.  The 
social  estates  of  eighteenth-century  England  were 
separated  by  almost  impassable  barriers.  The  Wes- 
leyan  reformation,  more  than  any  other  force,  broke 


The  Peasant's  Son.  15 

down  these  barriers,  and  made  of  the  bulk  of  the  peas- 
antry a  great  middle  class  in  English  life.  It  also 
made  this  middle  class  intellectually  potent. 

The  entrance  of  young  Asbury  into  the  service  of 
the  Staffordshire  gentleman  was  in  some  respects  an- 
other case  of  Joseph  in  the  house  of  Potiphar.  The 
surroundings  were  unfavorable  to  piety,  but  the  well- 
taught  and  prayer-guided  youth  escaped  serious  con- 
tamination, though  he  speaks  of  awakened  pride  as  a 
consequence  of  his  new  relations.  But  his  term  of 
service  was  destined  to  bring  a  double  reward.  The 
family  in  which  he  served  was  a  polite  one,  and  seems 
to  have  affected  the  best  code  of  manners  known  to 
the  English  gentry  of  that  day.  The  courtesies  and 
habits  of  gentility  must  needs  have  impressed  the  sym- 
pathetic youth  accustomed  to  solitude  and  social  isola- 
tion. He  could  not  have  been  an  inapt  observer  of 
the  manners  of  the  great  people  whom  he  served.  At 
least  one  of  his  biographers  is  led  to  believe  that  it 
was  during  this  service  that  Asbury  himself  acquired 
that  ease  of  manner  and  action  that  afterwards  made 
him  appear  so  much  at  home  in  the  houses  of  the  aris- 
tocratic people  of  North  America.  Thus  are  the  para- 
bles of  providence  expounded;  thus  does  destiny  neg- 
lect no  smallest  element  in  fitting  men  to  fulfill  her 
high  decrees.  It  would  be  a  safe  undertaking  to  show 
that  the  stay  of  Joseph  in  Potiphar's  house  contrib- 
uted largely  toward  preparing  him  for  lordship  over 
all  the  land  of  Egypt.  So  was  Asbury,  while  a  servant 
in  the  house  of  his  rich  neighbor,  fitted  in  one  of  the 
particulars  necessary  to  the  success  of  his  apostolate 
in  the  New  World. 

The  good  sense  and  religious  instincts  of  the  As- 


1 6  Francis  Asbury. 

burys  probably  suggested  an  early  termination  of  their 
son's  relations  to  an  ungodly  master ;  so  after  a  time — 
probably  about  a  year — the  arrangement  ended,  and 
V,the  lad  was  later  apprenticed  for  a  period  of  six  and 
one-half  years  to  learn  a  trade.  There  is  some  doubt 
as  to  the  character  of  this  trade,  Asbury  being,  as  it 
would  seem,  designedly  silent  on  that  point,  as  upon 
so  many  other  matters  relating  to  this  period  of  his 
life.  Some  say  that  it  was  the  trade  of  a  saddler,  while 
others  have  it  that  he  learned  the  business  of  a  button 
or  buckle  maker.  It  was  more  probably  "the  former, 
though  so  far  as  I  have  ascertained  only  one  of  his 
biographers  has  adopted  this  view.  "^ 

His  new  relations  brought  him  into  contact  with 
people  whose  social  and  religious  ideals  were  con- 
genial. In  his  new  master's  household  he  dwelt  as  a 
member  of  the  family,  and  set  earnestly  about  the 
task  of  learning  his  trade.  Here  is  the  Pauline  prece- 
dent. The  saddle  maker  of  Staffordshire  strikes  on 
the  beginning  level  of  the  tent  maker  of  Tarsus.  The 
affinity  between  apostolicity  and  labor  is  ancient  and 
continuous.  The  master  workman  in  spiritual  things 
is  shadowed  forth  in  the  growing  skill  of  the  appren- 
tice who  honors  his  craft. 

That  Asbury  would  in  time  have  made  a  master 
saddler  may  well  be  supposed;  but  God  had  another 
use  for  the  untaught  son  of  the  peasant,  and  was  soon 
to  give  him  a  token  of  that  choice.  However,  at  this 
time  there  was  neither  sign  nor  voice,  and  the  youth 
had  settled  down  to  contentment  with  his  lot.  No  in- 
tellectual longing  or  dream  of  ambition  visited  him. 
Indeed,  it  is  likely  that  the  moiety  of  learning  ac- 
quired in  childhood  was^  with  the  dreams  of  infancy, 


The  Peasant's  Son.  ly 

becoming  irrelevant  amid  the  listlessness  of  toilful 
and  bookless  days.  These  are  the  conditions  under 
which  the  brain  becomes  sluggish  and  the  pain  of 
desire  is  soothed  into  indifference.  Here  begins  the 
inertia  of  those  millions  who  live  and  die  without  giv- 
ing a  sign. 

This  is  not  the  place  to  assess  the  intellectual  powers 
of  Asbury,  but  a  reference  to  his  healthy  mentality 
properly  comes  in  here.  In  spite  of  the  cruel  treat- 
ment received  at  the  hands  of  a  churlish  schoolmaster, 
the  lad  showed  an  early  though  not  extraordinary 
aptitude  for  letters.  But  the  exceptional  quality — the 
real  precocity — of  his  taste  was  in  his  choice  of  read- 
ing, though  we  cannot  know  how  much  of  this  was 
necessity.  We  cannot  know  if  any  brave  tales  of  ad- 
venture, any  high-drawn  romances,  were  brought  with- 
in his  reach  to  be  turned  down  for  those  serious  and 
solid  volumes  which  first  entranced  his  soul.  The 
genius  of  Asbury,  if  genius  he  had  beyond  **the  art  of 
taking  pains,"  was  in  the  ethereally  ethical  element  of 
his  thoughts.  The  Galilean  light  shone  through  them. 
Had  there  been  a  record  of  these  thoughts  in  child- 
hood, or  had  his  peasant  surroundings  afforded  any 
chance  for  their  expression,  then  indeed  might  a 
prophecy  of  his  future  goings  have  been  read;  but 
even  the  mother  heart  that  warmed  with  unutterable 
tenderness  the  life  of  his  own  could  not  read  out  the 
secret  of  the  days  of  her  son.  To  see  him  come  in 
blamelessness  to  maturity,  and  filling  at  last  the  room 
of  his  father  as  the  servant  of  a  gentleman  or  the 
keeper  of  his  horse  and  hounds  was  all  she  knew  or 
dared  to  dream  for  him. 

His  peasant  lineage  transmitted  to  the  future  Bishop 

2 


1 8  Francis  Asbitry. 

a  sinew}'  and  well-knit  frame.  Though  in  America 
Asbury's  body  early  became  the  prey  of  diseases  that 
slowly  sapped  his  "strength,  he  was  by  nature  healthy 
and  strong-fibered.  No  other  supposition  can  account 
for  the  fifty-five  years  of  incessant  labors  and  hard- 
ships which  he  endured  as  an  itinerant  evangelist, 
forty-five  of  which  were  spent  on  the  rough,  wide  floor 
of  the  American  continent^  in  traveling  over  vv'hich  he 
averaged  not  less  than  five  to  six  thousand  miles  per 
year.  The  maladies  from  which  he  so  sorely  and  con- 
stantly suffered  in  America  had  their  origin  in  the 
plentiful  malaria  which  he  absorbed  during  the  first 
years  of  his  itinerant  service  in  the  lowlands  of  Mary- 
land. A  wiser  regimen  and  a  better  medical  advice 
would  no  doubt  have  saved  him  years  of  suffering  and 
preserved  him  in  strength  to  the  end  of  his  days.  The 
testimony  is  that  in  his  youth  the  measures  of  sun- 
shine and  English  day  built  into  his  frame  shone  out 
in  a  ruddy  comeliness,  and  that  to  see  him  was  to 
mark  the  heritage  of  a  body  destined  to  a  goodly  use. 
Described  in  later  life  as  "tall,  thin,  and  gaunt,"  witli 
the  face  and  air  of  a  soldier  whose  toils  had  wasted 
early  strength  and  impaired  youthful  beauty,  he  was 
in  younger  manhood  a  figure  that  suggested  athletic 
vigor  veiled  with  the  contemplative  manner  of  the 
eremite  and  saint. 

Thus  I  have  considered  and  put  as  far  as  may  be 
possible  into  consistent  outline  what  is  certainly  known 
concerning  the  infancy  and  boyhood  of  one  of  the 
most  noteworthy  men  of  the  later  Christian  ages — 
a  man  to  whom  was  opened  such  a  door  as  seldom 
invites  to  even  gospel  labors;  a  man  who,  measured 
by  the  extent  and  results  of  his  ministry,  is  preemi- 


The  Peasant's  Son.  19 

nently  entitled  to  be  named  an  apostle,  and  yet  a  man, 
it  may  be  repeated,  upon  whom  heaven  stole  unawares 
with  its  blessings  and  honors. 

When  entering  upon  his  fourteenth  year,  and  having 
settled  down  to  the  life  of  a  saddler's  apprentice,  he 
was  without  other  pledge  than  that  which  covered  the 
lives  of  his  fellow-peasants,  and  without  monitor  or 
impulse  to  recall  him  from  the  intellectual  indifference 
into  which  he  had  been  banished  by  the  ferrule  of  a 
cruel  pedagogue.  But  a  new  and  sudden  influence 
was  about  to  set  his  feet  in  wider  paths. 


CHAPTER   11. 
A  Propulsive  Experience. 

The  experience  which  turned  back  the  captivity  of 
Asbury's  youth  and  caused  his  powers  and  purposes 
to  set  in  the  direction  of  action  came  to  him  near 
the  end  of  his  fifteenth  year.  For  a  considerable 
time  previous  to  this  he  had  been  under  special  reli- 
gious influences,  and  a  series  of  spiritual  emotions 
had  held  him  in  a  state  of  constant  inquiry  and  con- 
cern. These  at  last  culminated  in  a  perfect  illumi- 
nation. \While  he  and  a  companion  were  praying  in 
his  father's  barn,  he  was  definitely  converted.  It  was 
then  that  he  was  able  to  believe  that  God  had  par- 
doned his  sins  and  justified  his  soul  in  believing!^  From 
that  moment  he  v/as,  as  described  in  his  own  words, 
**happy,  free  from  guilt  and  fear,  had  power  over  sin, 
and  felt  great  inward  joy."  Immediately  also  he 
turned  to  reading  and  prayers,  and  soon  appointed 
meetings  for  his  youthful  friends  whom  he  began 
systematically  to  instruct,  while  giving  attention  to  his 
own  spiritual  and  intellectual  needs. 

His  career  as  a  Methodist  began  in  a  most  orthodox 
way.  The  son  of  the  stanchest  of  Church  of  England 
parents,  he  was  converted  in  a  fashion  particularly 
agreeing  with  Wesleyan  precedents.  Nor  was  this 
conformity  the  result  of  chance,  or  even  of  a  general 
providence,  but  was  the  outcome  of  the  instructions 
given  him  by  his  recently  found  Wesleyan  advisers. 
He  was  a  penitent  seeking  an  assurance  in  conscious- 
ness of  the  divine  forgiveness.     To  this  assurance, 

(20) 


A  Propulsive  Experience,  21 

when  imparted  by  the  Holy  Spirit,  not  only  his  faith 
but  his  future  destiny  responded. 

With  his  conversion  emerged  a  longing  and  hunger 
for  perfect  love  or  entire  sanctlfication,  which  was 
also  in  harmony  with  the  new  doctrine  which  he 
had  embraced.  This  desire  for  the  perfecting  of  his 
faith  continued  to  be  a  passion  throughout  his  after 
life.  His  journal,  indeed,  for  the  space  of  nearly  half 
a  century  is  a  continuous  stair  sloping  upward  toward 
the  chambers  of  perfectness.  But  so  far  as  one  may 
judge  from  his  own  words,  he  reached  no  place  which 
he  was  willing  to  call  the  goal.  Concerning  an  expe- 
rience which  came  to  him  soon  after  his  conversion, 
and  which  he  for  a  time  misnamed  the  blessing  of 
perfection,  he  writes :  "Some  time  after  I  had  ob- 
tained a  clear  witness  of  my  acceptance  with  God, 
the  Lord  showed  in  the  heat  of  youth,  and  youthful 
blood,  the  evil  of  my  heart.  For  a  short  time  I  en- 
joyed, as  I  thought,  the  pure  and  perfect  love  of  God; 
but  this  happy  frame  did  not  long  continue,  although 
at  seasons  I  was  greatly  blessed." 

One  of  the  very  latest  entries  in  his  journal  is:  *'I 
live  in  God  from  moment  to  moment."  And  these  two 
entries  may  be  taken  as  fairly  expressive  of  his  views 
and  experiences  in  this  matter  during  his  whole  life. 
The  record  does  not  vary  in  important  particulars 
from  that  found  in  Wesley's  journal  concerning  his 
own  experience  regarding  the  same  doctrine. 

Strikingly  alike  indeed  in  all  essential  details  were 
the  experiences  of  John  Wesley  and  the  man  who 
stands  next  to  him  in  the  centuries  of  Methodist  his- 
tory. The  most  noteworthy  resemblances  are  found 
in  the  sharp  and  prolonged  struggle  which  in  each 


22  Francis  Ashiry. 

case  led  up  to  the  point  of  submission,  in  the  simple 
inward  manifestations,  in  the  clearness  of  the  testimo- 
nies given,  in  the  momentary  eclipse  following  each 
testimony,  in  the  early  dissipation  of  the  doubts  of 
each,  and  in  the  abiding  vision  thereafter. 

The  chief  points  of  contrast  in  the  experiences  of 
these  two  remarkable  men  are  referable  to  the  dis- 
parity of  their  years  and  the  diverse  conditions  of 
their  mental  attainments  when  they  entered  into  light. 
Wesley's  powers  had  fully  matured;  Asbury  was  still 
in  the  years  of  adolescence.  Wesley  was  a  priest  in 
orders  in  the  Church  of  England,  a  graduate  of  Ox- 
ford, a  man  of  wide  reading  and  observation,  and 
one  whose  ministry  had  already  touched  two  worlds ; 
Asbury  was  all  but  untutored,  was  ignorant  of  the  lit- 
erature and  the  men  of  the  world,  and  had  barely 
traveled  beyond  the  limits  of  his  native  shire.  We 
shall  see  how  significant  are  these  likenesses  and  how 
unimportant  are  these  diiTerences  as  they  affect  the 
main  fact. 

The  faith  of  childhood  is  always  genuine  and  often 
develops  into  distinct  apprehensions.  The  Son  of 
Man  not  only  heard  the  cries  of  harlots  and  publicans 
when  they  prayed  no  more  than  the  prayers  of  little 
children,  but  also  forgave  the  sins  of  those  who  could 
show  no  more  than  the  faith  of  infancy.  The  begin- 
ning faith  of  Francis  Asbury  was  that  of  a  child 
who  believed  through  a  logic  of  the  heart  more  com- 
plete and  convincing  than  that  of  the  proudest  philos- 
ophies of  men.  Both  Wesley  and  Asbury  had  meas- 
ures of  faith  before  the  epoch-making  days  to  which 
they  refer  their  conversions.  Wesley  was  sure  of  this 
in  his  own  case,  and  made  a  notable  entry  to  that 


A  Propulsive  Experience.  23 

effect  in  his  journal.  The  roots  of  Asbury's  faith  are 
distinctly  traceable  in  the  acts  and  emotions  of  his 
earliest  childhood.  But  with  him,  as  with  his  great 
spiritual  exemplar,  there  was  one  day  when  the  Spirit 
spoke  and  when  the  penitent  heard  for  all  times  and 
all  destinies^ — when  the  currents  of  his  life,  gathering 
new  force  and  volume,  set  full  toward  the  deeps  of 
God  and  his  truth. 

If  Asbury  appears  reticent  and  secretive  concern- 
ing the  material  details  of  his  early  history,  he  has 
in  a  few  unstudied  words  sketched  clearly  enough  the 
anatomy  of  his  spiritual  emotions.  Even  before  he 
was  twelve  years  old  the  Spirit  strove  frequently  and 
powerfully  with  him ;  and  though  these  visitations  did 
not  immediately  bring  him  into  a  knowledge  of  the 
life  from  above,  they  did  work  effectually  in  keeping 
him  from  being  led  captive  by  the  evil  below.  While 
still  in  his  fourteenth  year  he  was  blessed  with  im- 
pressions yet  more  distinct;  and  whereas  the  former 
had  left  him  only  disturbed  emotions,  these  latter  pro- 
duced in  him  a  desire  to  obey.  This  awakening  came 
through  the  conversations  of  a  pious  layman — a  new 
accession  to  the  parish  neighborhood — whom  his 
mother  had  thoughtfully  invited  to  their  home.  But 
though  this  pious  man  could  excite  spiritual  desires, 
he  could  not  perfectly  instruct  those  whom  he  had 
awakened.  The  thirsty  youth  therefore  turned  to  his 
parish  priest,  but  found  him  for  this  use  a  broken 
cistern. 

West^  Bromich  was  a  village  of  Staffordshire  two 
or  three  leagues  distant  from  the  Asbury  home.  The 
parish  church  there  was  under  evangelical  influences, 
and  in  its  pulpit  appeared  from  time  to  time  the  most 


24  Francis  Asbiiry. 

noted  evangelical  preachers  of  the  Established  Church. 
To  this  church  young  Asbury  betook  himself,  and 
there  heard  not  a  few  great  expounders  of  the 
gospel,  amongst  them  the  discriminating  and  faithful 
Venn,  and  Haweis,  the  devout  chaplain  of  the  Countess 
of  Huntingdon.  To  these  and  to  others  to  whom  he 
there  listened  he  bears  the  pleasing  testimony  that  they 
preached  the  truth.  The  doctrines  which  they  ex- 
pounded were  steadily  and  surely  making  him  free. 

To  his  reawakened  intellectual  sense,  which  ex- 
pressed itself  in  a  steady  reading  habit,  he  owed  his 
discovery  of  Methodism.  The  medium  of  this  dis- 
covery was  the  sermons  of  Whitefield  and  Cennick. 
It  may  well  be  believed  that  these  discourses  did  little 
more  than  deepen  an  already  active  desire,  for,  clearly 
enough,  it  was  not  possible  for  a  youth  of  fifteen  to 
comprehend  them  unaided.  Of  his  mother  he  in- 
quired concerning  the  Methodists.  She  had  not  her- 
self, as  it  appears,  come  in  contact  with  any  repre- 
sentative of  the  United  Societies;  but  her  tolerant 
soul  led  her  to  give  a  good  account  of  that  way  to  her 
son.  This  indorsement  influenced  him  to  set  out  for 
Wednesbury,  another  near-by  parish,  in  which  the 
Methodists  had  established  a  preaching  place,  and 
where  he  had  the  good  fortune  to  hear  the  saintly 
Fletcher.  Although  the  spoken  discourses  of  this 
Tioly  man  impressed  him  deeply  and  indeed  fixed  in  his 
mind  the  ideal  of  a  completed  Christian  experience, 
he  seems  to  have  been  brought  by  them  no  nearer  to 
a  finality  than  he  had  been  by  the  printed  sermons  of 
Whitefield.  But  from  the  first  his  soul  was  fascinated 
by  the  simple  and  hearty  service  of  the  Methodists. 
From  a  record  of  his  emotions  made  long  afterwards 


A  Propulsive  Experience.  ^5 

in  his  journal  the  following  is  taken:  "I  soon  found 
that  this  was  not  the  Church,  but  it  was  better.  The 
people  were  so  devout,  men  and  w^omen  kneeling 
down,  saying,  'Amen.'  Now  behold !  they  were  sing- 
ing hymns,  sweet  sound!  Why,  strange  to  tell,  the 
preacher  had  no  prayer  book,  and  yet  he  prayed  won- 
derfully !  What  was  more  extraordinary,  the  man 
took  his  text  and  had  no  sermon  book :  thought  I,  this 
is  wonderful  indeed.  It  is  certainly  a  strange  way, 
but  the  best  way.  He  talked  about  confidence,  assur- 
ance, etc.,  of  which  all  my  flights  and  hopes  fell 
short." 

Notwithstanding  his  failure  to  experience  relief,  he 
continued  to  attend  these  ministrations,  and  strove 
with  constancy  and  prayer  to  bring  his  case  to  an 
issue,  as  he  saw  others  do,  under  the  direct  appeals 
of  the  exhorters  and  preachers;  but  that  great  bene- 
diction was  reserved  for  a  quiet  moment  in  secret,  and 
for  a  place  apart,  which  the  Spirit  had  chosen.  Both 
the  place  and  experience  were  to  become  historic. 

Methodism  owes  the  force  which  has  made  it  his- 
toric to  an  experience.  That  experience  was  a  per- 
sonal one;  but  a  multitude  of  similar  experiences, 
with  their  resulting  testimonies,  combined  and  stream- 
ing tlirough  the  channels  of  thouglit  and  action,  have 
operated  to  change  the  moral  and  religious  aspects 
of  the  modern  world.  The  true  significance  of  his- 
toric Wesleyanism  is  to  be  sought  not  in  the  theology 
which  it  has  articulated — for  it  has  written  not  one 
credal  statement — nor  in  the  vast  ecclesiasticism 
which  it  has  built  up,  but  in  conditions  which  pre- 
vail in  twentieth  century  England  and  America,  and 
in    the    marvelous    colonial    antipodes — nay,    In    "the 


26  Francis  Ashury. 

whole  changed  temper  of  the  modern  world:  the 
new  ideals  in  its  politics,  the  new  spirit  in  its  religion, 
the  new  standard  in  its  philanthropy." 

It  is  but  further  affirmative  of  the  spirit  of  Wes- 
leyanism  to  say  that  the  fact  that  it  expresses  itself 
and  reveals  its  creed  in  the  history  of  an  experience 
is  the  fact  in  which  it  most  closely  resembles  apostolic 
Christianity.  Early  Christianity  owes  its  wide  and 
successful  propagation  to  an  experience  which  fell  to 
Saul  the  Pharisee  in  the  olive  vistas  before  Damascus. 
This  is  more  than  to  say  that  the  conversion  of  Saul 
gave  to  Christianity  its  best-equipped,  most  zealous, 
and  most  fearless  preacher.  It  gave  to  Christianity 
the  typical  miracle  of  the  power  of  Jesus  to  suddenly 
and  completely  transform  and  illuminate  a  human 
life.  It  also  gave  to  history — that  of  the  then  emer- 
ging days  and  to  all  time — a  force,  a  power,  pene- 
trating, pervasive,  propulsive,  and  procreative  to  the 
end  of  the  ages.  The  Aldersgate  experience  of  John 
Wesley  was  in  the  order  of  that  of  Damascus,  and 
simply  renewed  to  it  that  testimony  which  had  been 
lost  by  a  Church  long  enslaved  by  formalism.  Ab- 
solutely personal  and  of  the  order  of  the  individual 
consciousness  were  these  two  conversions,  but  they 
became,  in  their  historic  aftermath,  world  conver- 
sions— the  causes  and  geneses  of  vast  epochs  of  human 
spiritualization. 

By  force  of  a  divine  logic  the  conversion  of  every 
human  soul  sets  in  motion  a  propulsive  energy 
throughout  the  circle  of  that  soul's  powers.  In  scrip- 
tural regeneration  the  whole  man  answers — heart, 
soul,  intellect,  and  the  extraneous  sympathies  as  well. 
It  is  transition  from  death  to  life.     The  man  who 


A  Propulsive  Experience.  2y 

believes  and  confesses  must  move.  That  movement 
is  necessarily  out  of  self,  and  hence  the  contagion 
of  Christianity  and  the  historic  force  of  apostolic  tes- 
timony to  conversion. 

The  stress  of  Wesleyan  theology  and  experience  is 
placed  on  conscious  conversion  and  the  witness  of 
the  Spirit,  and  properly  so.  In  that  experience  and 
testimony  the  movement  known  as  ^lethodism  really 
began.  That  this  experience  and  its  accompanying- 
witness  have  power  to  lift  and  even  compel  men  out 
of  themselves,  to  attain  the  highest  and  best  not  only 
in  spiritual  but  also  in  intellectual  things,  the  lives 
of  not  a  few  of  Methodism's  greatest  and  most  typical 
exponents  testify.  After  John  Wesley  there  is  no 
more  conspicuous  illustration  of  this  propulsive  power 
to  be  found  than  Francis  Asbury,  who  not  only  en- 
tered through  his  conversion  into  an  apostolic  expe- 
rience, but  who  by  reason  of  his  faith  and  spirit- 
quickened  sense  rose  from  the  lowliest  of  social  con- 
ditions and  even  from  untutored  helplessness  to  a 
most  exalted  sphere  of  action,  and  one  matched  by 
an  intellectual  attainment  that  expounds  the  steps  by 
by  which  it  was  reached. 

A  biographer  of  Wesley  has  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  two  great  Reformations — German  and 
English — met  in  the  conversion  of  the  founder  of 
Methodism.  It  was  Peter  Bohler,  the  Moravian,  who 
led  him  into  the  light  of  justification  by  faith  alone. 
But  Anglicanism,  the  theological  system  to  which 
Wesley  held,  had  got  its  confession  from  German 
Protestantism.  The  Thirty-Nine  Articles  were  the 
offspring  of  the  Augsburg  Articles  of  Luther  and 
I^delanchthon,    and    the    doctrine    of    justification    by 


28  Francis  Asbury. 

faith  alone  is  to  be  found  in  each.  The  first  historic 
contact  of  the  two  Reformations,  that  which  oc- 
curred in  the  compihng  of  the  Edwardine  Articles 
in  Cranmer's  time,  produced  the  letter  of  the  doc- 
trine ;  the  second  contact,  that  which  occurred  in  Wes- 
ley's conversion,  produced  the  fire,  the  life  of  the 
Spirit,  and  also  produced  the  perfect  type  of  Protes- 
tantism. 

In  the  conversion  of  Francis  Asbury  no  historical 
relations  are  suggested — that  is,  none  save  a  contact 
with  the  ancient  pentecostal  and  Pauline  experiences. 
But  the  Holy  Ghost  acted  upon  the  soul  of  the  Staf- 
fordshire peasant  lad  in  the  same  manner  and  to  the 
same  end  that  He  did  upon  the  soul  of  the  scholar  and 
master  of  Oxford.  He  put  no  difference  between  them, 
purifying  their  hearts  by  faith,  and  faith  alone. 

It  is  their  religion — that  is,  the  peculiar  type  of  it, 
considered  as  resulting  from  a  conscious  conversion 
at  a  definite  time  and  v/itnessed  to  by  the  Holy  Ghost 
— that  gives  meaning  to  the  life  of  both  Wesley  and 
Asbury.  If  this  is  not  truer  of  the  life  of  Asbury,  at 
least  the  differences  wrought  by  his  experience  are 
more  certainly  traceable.  The  personality  and  powers 
of  Asbury,  considered  apart  from  his  faith,  and  that 
passion  of  love  which  his  faith  begot  within  him, 
could  never  have  become  a  world  force  or  even  an 
important  determinative  in  history.  Faith  not  only 
stood  to  him  in  the  stead  of  intellectual  power  and 
transcendency,  but  the  power  of  an  endless  life 
streaming  out  of  his  conversion  experience  wrought 
in  him,  as  an  after  result,  an  intellectual  effectiveness 
otherwise  impossible.  ^'Love  taught  him  wisdom; 
love  gave  him  power." 


A  Propulsive  Experience.  29 

The  lesson  for  the  Church  in  Asbury's  hfe  is  to 
be  found  in  the  fact  that  his  power  of  triumph  is 
inevitably  related  to  his  conversion,  a  distinct  and 
clearly  marked  spiritual  and  intellectual  crisis.  The 
value  of  this  lesson  is  not  because  of  exceptional 
points  in  Asbury's  conversion,  but  because  of  the 
absence  of  these — because  it  was  typical. 

It  is  impossible  to  discover  the  mental  processes 
which  led  up  to  the  conversion  of  Saul  of  Tarsus; 
the  record  is  silent  on  what  would  no  doubt  have 
proved  a  most  interesting  but  perhaps  confusing  psy- 
chological story.  The  important  fact  only  was  set 
down — namely,  that  it  was  a  sudden,  overmastering, 
and  never-to-be-effaced  revelation  of  divine  power. 
The  common  marks  of  the  highest  types  of  historic 
conversions  are  the  definiteness  of  the  Spirit's  mani- 
festation and  the  response  thereto  of  the  penitent  con- 
sciousness. All  those  lives  whose  testimonies  have 
got  into  the  calendar  of  the  regeneration  have  had 
the  hidings  of  their  power  here.  In  his  prejustifi- 
cation  tests  Wesley  observed  that  all  scriptural  con- 
versions were  sudden  and  distinctly  marked,  and  it 
was  the  holding  of  himself  to  this  rule  that  brought 
to  him  that  quickening  without  which  his  life  had 
been  barren  of  those  miracles  of  ministry  and  marvels 
of  thought  which  have  so  greatly  enriched  the  world. 
The  case  of  Asbury  makes  a  syllogism  yielding  a 
conclusion  only  less  significant.  The  logic  of  the 
Spirit  is  the  same. 

To  sum  up:  If  John  Wesley  had  not  felt  his  heart 
''strangely  warmed''  in  that  humble  meeting  In  Al- 
dersgate  Street  on  May  24,  1738,  the  world  had 
known  no  preeminent  Wesley,  the  man  of  fire  and 


30  Francis  Asbury. 

zeal,  the  man  of  pentecostal  experience,  nor  had 
eighteenth  century  England  known  the  quickening 
of  the  Wesleyan  revival,  nor  perhaps  any  equivalent 
of  it,  and  so  the  England  of  to-day  had  been  another 
England  than  it  is.  If  the  Spirit  had  not  in  a  similar 
manner,  some  two  and  twenty  years  later,  visited  the 
heart  of  Francis  Asbury,  Wesley's  few  sheep  in  the 
American  wilderness  m^ight  have  perished  or  gone 
astray  for  lack  of  leadership.  In  that  case  it  is  not 
difficult  to  think  of  the  New  World  as  having  been 
left  without  its  most  distinct  and  potential  evangelical 
force.  It  is  thus  that  the  fate  and  welfare  of  nations 
turn  upon  the  things  which  God  brings  to  life  in  the 
awakening  of  the  hearts  of  those  whom  he  calls  to 
be  his  saints.  It  is  thus  that  his  saints  are  made  to 
sit  upon  thrones  in  the  judgment  of  this  world.  It 
is  thus  that  conversions  become  more  decisive  than  bat- 
tles and  revivals  of  religion  more  determinative  of 
human  history  than  political  revolutions.  It  was  thus 
that  the  name  of  Francis  Asbury  came  to  be  illustrious  ; 
it  was  thus  that  he  of  the  humble  beginning  and  the 
humble  faith  was,  at  last,  given  so  large  a  share  in 
settling  the  life  of  a  continent  and  in  influencing  the 
destinies  of  mankind  in  general. 


CHAPTER    III. 
The  Wesleyan  Helper. 

That  part  of  the  life  and  ministry  of  Francis  As- 
bury  which  fell  to  him  in  England  furnishes  a  vantage 
for  studying  the  character,  equipment,  and  work  of 
the  early  Methodist  preacher.  Certainly  the  whole 
history  of  the  Wesleyan  revival  affords  no  better  il- 
lustration of  the  discipleship  which  through  the  Spirit 
and  under  the  leadership  of  a  "fellow  of  Lincoln 
College"  brought  its  wonders  to  pass. 

The  early  Methodist  preacher  was  not  as  the  Meth- 
odist preacher  of  to-day,  though  happily  the  likeness 
in  spiritual  simplicity  and  zeal — if  still  too  much  an 
exception — is  not  wholly  wanting  in  the  modern  itin- 
erant, nor  is  he  entirely  a  stranger  to  the  early  rule 
of  life  and  service.  With  rare  exceptions,  the  early 
Methodist  preacher  was  a  layman,  and  that  without 
hope  of  graduating  through  a  quadrennial  course  of 
study  into  clerical  orders.  His  sole  ecclesiastical  au- 
thority was  a  license  from  Mr.  Wesley  to  preach  in 
the  chapels  which  he  held  for  the  use  of  the  people 
called  Methodists.  Generally,  too,  this  preacher  was 
a  man  of  little  culture,  who  had  come  out  of  social 
obscurity,  and  the  evidence  of  whose  call  was  to  be 
found  in  his  own  testimony,  zeal,  and  success. 

The  early  Methodist  preachers,  as  regarded  their 
relations  to  Mr.  Wesley  and  the  v/ork,  were  divided 
into  two  classes — namely,  assistants  and  helpers.  The 
assistants  were  the  preachers  in  charge  of  circuits, 
while  the  helpers  were  those  preachers,  itinerant  or 

(31) 


;^2  Francis  Ashury. 

local,  who  served  with  and  under  the  assistants.  The 
significance  of  the  title  "assistant"  was  in  the  direct 
relation  which  the  bearer  of  it  sustained  to  Mr.  Wes- 
ley, who  regarded  himself  as  officially  present  in  each 
of  the  circuits,  and  therefore  the  man  actually  in 
charge  of  it  was  only  his  assistant.  The  assistants 
were  expected  to  meet  with  him  in  the  yearly  Confer- 
ences, but  it  was  not  obligatory  upon  the  helpers  to 
do  so. 

The  letters,  or  license,  which  Wesley  gave  to  his 
preachers  were  meant  to  preserve  decency  and  order 
and  secure  his  authority  over  the  assistants  and  help- 
ers, and,  through  them,  over  the  societies.  No  ec- 
clesiastical significance  attached  to  these  letters.  The 
Methodist  Societies  were  not  Churches ;  their  mem- 
bers were  supposed  to  belong  to  the  Church  of 
England,  and  to  the  priests  of  that  Church  they  were 
instructed  to  go  for  the  sacraments.  The  preaching 
in  the  chapels  and  the  other  meetings  of  the  societies 
were  supposed  to  be  appointed  for  hours  which  did  not 
conflict  with  the  morning  and  evening  services  of 
the  Church. 

With  the  exception  of  the  few  who  were  clergymen 
of  the  Church  of  England,  the  preachers  who  worked 
with  Mr.  Wesley  in  England  were,  as  we  have  seen, 
unordained,  and  this  was  also  true  of  the  preachers 
in  America  prior  to  1784.  To  have  suggested  in  As- 
bury's  time  in  England  that  the  United  Societies 
would  one  day  proclaim  themselves  an  independent 
Church,  and  that  the  preachers  would  at  last  accept 
ordination  from  other  hands  than  those  of  an  Angli- 
can bishop,  would  have  created  alarm  among  even  the 
Methodists  themselves.    By  what  stretch  of  his  fancy, 


The  Wesley  an  Helper.  33 

then,  could  Asbury  have  foreseen  himself  a  Metho- 
dist bishop? 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  steps  by  which  Wesley 
was  led  first  to  countenance  and  then  to  permit  lay 
preaching  in  his  societies,  and  at  last  to  work  it  into 
his  system  as  one  of  its  cardinal  features.  The  con- 
version of  Wesley  did  not  at  first  greatly  modify  his 
obstinate  High-church  views ;  but  the  wisdom  nour- 
ished by  the  experience  grovv^ing  out  of  it  did,  so  that 
before  the  end  of  his  life  he  was  completely  delivered 
from  hierarchical  prejudices.  He  began  his  itinerant 
work  in  1739  in  connection  with  his  brother  Charles 
and  George  Whitefield.  In  an  incredibly  short  time 
the  societies  had  grown  beyond  the  ability  of  these 
three  to  supply  their  needs.  The  only  visible  means 
of  providing  the  multiplying  converts  with  spiritual 
bread  was  in  committing  to  the  revival  the  evangel- 
ical ministers  of  the  Establishment.  The  number  of 
these  was  limited,  and  even  of  that  number  only  a 
few  were  free  to  go.  The  situation  raised  a  question 
which  could  be  answered  only  from  an  inscrutable 
source. 

About  this  time  a  layman  violated  all  precedents, 
and  greatly  shocked  the  sensibilities  of  both  the  Wes- 
leys  by  delivering,  on  his  own  motion,  a  public  ex- 
hortation immediately  following  one  of  Whitefield's 
fervid  discourses  in  the  open.  Soon  after  this — ^that 
is  to  say,  about  the  end  of  1739 — Thomas  Maxfield, 
one  of  Mr.  Wesley's  young  converts,  offered  himself 
to  serve  as  a  son  in  the  gospel,  and  to  go  and  do  as 
Wesley  should  direct.  This  offer  was  accepted  not 
without  misgivings,  the  Churchman  yielding  an  evan- 
gelical inch  to  the  new  and  clamorous  necessity. 
3 


34  Francis  Ashury. 

Maxfield  was  given  a  general  leave  to  exhort — but 
under  no  conditions  to  preach!  "Soon  after,"  to  con- 
tinue the  story  in  Wesley's  own  words,  ''came  another, 
Thomas  Richards;  then  a  third,  Thomas  Westall." 
It  will  be  noticed  that  these  all  bore  the  name  of 
"Thomas,"  reversing  the  history  of  that  disciple  who 
doubted.  Whatever,  indeed,  of  doubt  there  was  at 
the  opening  of  this  dispensation  of  lay  evangelism 
was  on  the  part  of  "a  man  whose  name  was  John." 
Wesley  did  doubt,  and,  as  the  final  outcome  proved, 
concerning  the  steps  which  carried  him  farthest 
toward  the  success  of  his  mission. 

Again  the  inevitable  happened.  Returning  to  Lon- 
don from  one  of  his  tours  through  the  interior, 
Wesley  learned  that  Thomas  Maxfield  had  been 
preaching.  The  High-churchman  in  him  was  doubly 
scandalized,  and  he  meditated  putting  an  end  to  the 
possibility  of  a  recurrence  of  the  offense  by  summa- 
rily dismissing  the  offender.  Three  things,  however, 
caused  him  to  pause  and  at  last  reconsider  his  pur- 
pose: First,  his  mother's  caution  in  young  Maxfield's 
favor;  second,  the  fruit  of  Maxfield's  preaching — 
for  men  and  women  had  been  converted  under  it; 
and  third,  his  own  unanswerable  logic — namely,  that 
"those  who  are  only  called  of  God,  and  not  of  man, 
have  more  right  to  preach  than  those  who  are  only 
called  of  man  and  not  of  God."  "It  is  the  Lord,"  he 
said  at  last ;  "let  him  do  what  seemeth  good." 

But  if  Wesley  needed  a  further  argument  to  com- 
plete his  conviction,  it  was  supplied  in  the  case  of 
John  Nelson,  the  Yorkshire  stone  mason,  who  had  "as 
high  a  spirit  and  as  brave  a  heart  as  ever  Englishman 
was  blessed   with,"   and   whose   story   is   one   of  the 


The  We  shy  an  Helper.  35 

recorded  miracles  of  Methodism.  An  early  convert 
of  Wesley's  preaching  in  London,  where  he  worked 
at  his  trade,  he  journeyed  back  to  his  native  shire 
to  tell  his  kinsmen  and  neighbors  what  great  things 
had  been  done  for  him  of  heaven.  The  simple  people 
desired  him  to  continue  the  story  from  day  to  day. 
This  he  did,  and  multitudes  flocked  to  his  door,  where 
he  sat  to  talk,  and,  all  before  he  or  his  audiences  sus- 
pected it,  he  also  was  preaching.  Alarmed  at  what 
had  happened,  he  sent  for  Wesley.  The  great  leader 
came  without  delay,  sat  at  the  stone  mason's  fireside, 
saw  the  throngs  that  crowded  about  his  door,  and 
heard  the  message  which  he  delivered.  The  evidence 
that  a  new  dispensation  had  dawned  was  overwhelm- 
ing, and  the  question  of  lay  preaching  in  Methodism 
was  settled  for  all  time.  At  the  death  of  Wesley,  in 
1 791,  three  hundred  lay  preachers  were  attached  to 
his  Conferences  in  Great  Britain,  serving  seventy-six 
thousand  members  in  society. 

Asbury's  conversion  was  his  call  to  be  an  evangel- 
ist. His  first  answer  was  to  assemble  his  youthful 
companions  and  exhort  them  to  repentance.  This 
was  followed  by  the  more  public  step  of  holding 
meetings  in  the  homes  of  his  father's  neighbors. 
These  meetings  appear  to  have  been  begun  entirely 
on  his  own  initiative.  There  was  no  Methodist 
preaching  or  oversight  of  any  kind  in  the  parish,  or 
perhaps  in  all  that  part  of  Staffordshire.  But  it  has 
been  this  spontaneity  of  Methodism  that  has  made  it 
effective  throughout  its  era.  The  flying  spark  has 
engendered  a  flame. 

But  the  zeal  of  the  youthful  evangelist  was  soon  to 
be  put  to  test.    Persecutions  of  a  serious  nature  arose. 


36  Francis  Ashiiry. 

As  early  as  1743,  somewhat  less  than  two  years  before 
Asbury's  birth,  Wesley  himself  had  been  subjected 
to  much  persecution  in  Staffordshire,  at  Wednesbury 
being  attacked  by  a  mob,  and  narrowly  escaping 
death.  For  a  year  or  more  a  condition  of  terror  ob- 
tained amongst  the  Methodists  in  that  region.  Pe- 
riodically this  persecuting  spirit  revived,  and  now, 
after  seventeen  years,  it  overflowed  about  the  feet 
of  the  latest  convert,  a  saddler's  apprentice  in  Hands- 
worth  parish.  The  householders  under  whose  roofs 
the  youthful  exhorter  had  been  permitted  to  gather 
his  rustic  audiences  became  alarmed,  and  withdrew 
their  hospitality.  Not  discomfited,  he  began  exhort- 
ing in  his  father's  house,  and  continued  to  do  so  for  a 
considerable  time.  Meanwhile  he  was  also  meeting 
a  class  at  Bromwich  Heath,  and  attended  each  week  a 
band  meeting  at  Wednesbury,  where  he  had  formed 
his  first  connection  with  the  Methodists.  The  ex- 
tent of  his  home  labors  were,  however,  not  known 
at  either  of  these  places,  where  he  was  treated  as  a 
catechumen  or  probationer.  But  he  was  even  then 
practicing  the  rule  which  made  him  so  great  and 
masterful  in  his  work  in  the  New  World:  as  fast  as 
he  received  he  gave  out.  What  was  imparted  to  him 
of  grace  and  instruction  at  Bromwich  Heath  and 
Wednesbury  he  quickly  carried  to  his  little  hearth- 
stone audiences  in  the  cottage  home  "near  the  foot 
of  Hampstead  Bridge."  When,  therefore,  he  appeared 
as  a  licensed  exhorter  in  the  Methodist  meeting- 
houses at  Wednesbury  and  elsewhere,  the  surprise 
of  the  people  was  great,  they  not  knowing  how  he 
had  been  learning  and  exercising  in  a  prophets'  school 
of  his  own.     It  must  be  borne  in  mind  that  all  this 


The  Wesleyan  Helper.  37 

occurred  about  the  beginning  of  his  seventeenth  year. 
It  is  seldom  that  this  record  has  been  paralleled  out- 
side of  the  Methodist  itinerancy. 

When  somewhere  between  his  seventeenth  and 
eighteenth  year  Asbury  was  licensed  as  a  local 
preacher;  and  although  still  pursuing  his  calling  as 
a  saddler's  apprentice,  he  began  to  serve  as  a  volun- 
tary helper  on  circuits  in  his  own  and  adjoining 
shires.  \¥ov  the  space  of  about  five  years  he  contin- 
ued in  this  relation,  and  thus  finished  the  term  of  his 
apprenticeship.)  He  had  now  reached  his  majority, 
and  was  free  to  make  his  choice  for  life.  Like  the 
Galilean  fishermen,  he  gave  up  all  to  follow  in  the 
footsteps  of  his  Lord.  He  left  the  saddler's  bench 
to  become  an  itinerant  in  Mr.  Wesley's  Conference. 

It  is  impossible  to  determine  in  what  circuits  and, 
indeed,  under  what  conditions  the  saddler-preacher 
worked  during  the  five  years  previous  to  his  entrance 
into  the  traveling  connection.  He  enumerates  cir- 
cuits in  Derbyshire,  Staffordshire,  Warwickshire,  and 
Worcestershire  as  having  been  visited  by  him,  but 
nothing  is  said  of  the  time  spent  upon  either  or  of 
the  details  of  any  labors  bestowed  upon  them.  But 
though  these  were  neighboring  shires,  to  accomplish 
the  visitations  named  and  to  preach,  as  he  records  he 
oftentimes  did,  three,  four,  and  even  five  times  a  week, 
and  attend  to  his  trade  was  in  itself  an  apostolic  labor. 
In  1768  he  served  his  first  itinerant  year  as  helper 
on  a  circuit,  or  circuits,  in  Staffordshire  and  Glouces- 
tershire. The  next  year,  1769,  he  traveled  in  the 
same  capacity  in  Bedfordshire,  Sussex,  and  other 
parts.  In  the  latter  end  of  1769,  this  being  the  begin- 
ning of  his  third  year  in  the  traveling  connection,  he 


38  Francis  Asbury. 

was  appointed  assistant — that  is,  he  was  put  in  charge 
of  a  circuit  in  Northamptonshire.  The  next  year  he 
traveled  in  Wiltshire,  but  whether  as  "helper"  or  ''as- 
sistant" the  record  does  not  sliow.  The  close  of  this 
itinerant  year  came  with  the  Conference  which  met 
at  Bristol,  in  August,  1771,  a  memorable  date  in  the  ^ 
life  of  Asbury,  and  also  in  the  history  of  American 
Methodism.  Asbury  was  just  then  completing  his 
twenty-sixth  year.  For  more  than  six  months  pre- 
vious to  the  meeting  of  this  Conference  he  had  been 
visited  by  strong  intimations  that  he  should  offer  him- 
self for  service  in  America.  With  what  self-abandon- 
ment he  did  this,  and  how  he  was  accepted  for  that 
far-off  field,  will  be  told  in  another  chapter. 

No  estimate  can  be  formed  of  the  character  of  As- 
bury's  preaching  during  his  itinerant  service  in  En- 
gland. His  journal  gives  the  texts,  and  often  the 
outlines,  of  more  than  one  hundred  sermons  preached 
during  his  ministry  of  forty-five  years  in  America; 
but  not  a  scrap  of  any  one  of  his  sermons  preached 
in  his  English  circuits  has  been  preserved.  That  they 
were  crude  at  first,  but  often  effective,  we  have  reason 
to  believe.  Cautiousl}^,  and  with  that  reserve  with 
which  he  has  sketched  the  events  of  his  early  life,  he 
mentions  several  cases  of  awakening  and  conversions 
which  followed  his  preaching,  Wliat,  however,  may 
be  safely  assumed  concerning  this  early  preaching  is 
that  it  was  typical  of  the  prevalent  Methodist  exhor- 
tation. Asbury  was  thoroughly  Wesleyan,  and  no 
man  connected  with  Wesley  ever  more  completely  im- 
bibed his  spirit.  Not  in  servile  imitation  of  the  great 
leader,  but  in  a  careful  use  of  his  example,  he  worked 
out  a  regimen  of  habits  and  industry  that  in  some 


The  Wesley  an  Helper.  39 

points  of  excellence  and  practicability  went  even  be- 
yond his  model. 

The  foundations  of  Asbury's  success  and  greatness 
as  a  preacher  were  laid  in  England.  During  the  ten 
years  of  his  mixed  ministry  there  he  had  mastered  the 
whole  system  of  Wesleyan  Arminianism  and  had  macle 
himself  acquainted,  to  a  greater  or  less  extent,  with 
other  theological  schools.  The  great  doctrines  he  had 
explored  from  the  view-point  of  the  naked  words  of 
the  Evangelists  and  the  Pauline  Epistles,  and  his 
faith  was  grounded  in  them  beyond  uprooting  or 
change.  It  is  certain,  too,  that  he  had  read  and  stud- 
ied much  sermonic  literature,  and,  what  was  still  bet- 
ter, he  had  heard — not  occasionally,  but  often — many 
of  the  very  greatest  of  England's  evangelical  preach- 
ers contemporaneous  with  Wesley.  And  here  abides 
a  secret.  Those  who  have  heard  with  appreciation 
and  understanding  the  words  and  precepts  of  the 
great  can  themselves  never  be  less  than  great  in 
their  own  measure. 

That  Asbury  during  his  itinerant  service  in  En- 
gland v/as  in  special  favor  with  Wesley  seems  certain ; 
but  not  even  W^esley  could  have  dreamed  that  injiis 
youthful  helper  was  wrapped  up  the  evangelization  of 
a  continent  and  the  religious  leadership  of  the  New 
World.  It  was  providence,  wonderful  providence, 
that  found  the  Staffordshire  saddler  and  gave  him 
this  commission. 


CHAPTER    IV. 
Bringing  Up  the  Balance. 

The  intellectual  redemption  of  Francis  Asbury, 
which  began  simultaneously  with  his  conversion,  il- 
lustrates the  tremendous  possibilities  of  life,  even 
when  it  is  shut  off  from  the  ordinary  means  of  train- 
ing and  culture.  It  also  illustrates  how  nearly  self- 
help  becomes  divine  help. 

The  ten  years  which  Asbury  spent  as  a  local  and 
itinerant  preacher  in  England  were  busy  years,  and, 
as  we  have  seen,  were  not  without  evangelistic  fruits ; 
but  they  were  given  largely  to  the  bringing  up  of  his 
neglected  education.  A  sense  of  his  intellectual  des- 
titution was  brought  home  to  him  in  the  hour  of  his 
regeneration,  and  was  doubly  emphasized  when  he 
heard  the  call  to  become  an  evangelist.  He  therefore 
went  forth  into  life  as  one  who  limped,  or  whose 
blood  lacked  the  warmth  of  completeness.  He  pos- 
sessed the  wish,  but  not  the  wing,  for  flight.  Not 
only  was  he  humbled  by  a  sense  of  his  literary  limi- 
tations, but  naturally  it  became  a  snare  to  him,  and 
seriously  impeded  his  spiritual  development.  To  these 
limitations  he  at  one  time  attributed  his  inability  to 
continue  in  the  blessing  of  perfect  love.  As  late  as 
1792  this  entry  was  made  in  his  journal:  "While  I 
was  a  traveling  preacher  in  England  I  was  much 
tempted,  finding  myself  exceedingly  ignorant  of  ev- 
erything a  minister  ought  to  know."  This  was  humil- 
ity in  retrospect. 

As  the  newly  made  disciple  looked  from  his  sad- 

(40) 


Bringing  Up  the  Balance.  41 

dler's  bench  down  the  avenues  opened  up  by  his  new 
experience,  the  disparagement  of  his  Hterary  equip- 
ment must  have  been  great.  It  is  the  advantage  of 
a  normally  acquired  education  that  it  keeps  the  stu- 
dent's intellectual  development  abreast  of  his  awaken- 
ing consciousness.  There  is  no  painful  sense  of  the 
unattained,  mayhap  of  the  unattainable.  With  those 
in  the  same  case  as  the  Staffordshire  saddler,  the  fact 
is  different.  The  constant  manifestation  of  such  a  life 
is  its  consciousness  of  lack.  But  this  is  the  inspiration 
of  self-help. 

The  untutored  convert  began  a  double  training  upon 
himself,  and  the  intellectual  results  partook  of  the 
phenomenon  of  his  spiritual  regeneration.  In  the 
midst  of  his  labors  as  an  apprentice  and  his  services 
as  a  lay  helper  he  laid  the  foundations  of  those  habits 
of  study  and  inquiry  which  made  him  at  last  a  master 
in  those  lines  of  knowledge  and  interpretation  most 
necessary  to  his  work  as  a  teacher  of  men.  In  self- 
acquired  learning  there  is  an  inevitable  lack  of  the 
greater  breadth,  but  there  is  compensation  in  the  in- 
creased mastery  of  self  and  the  development  of  pa- 
tience and  self-directed  industry.  Patience  and  indus- 
try were  qualities  possessed  by  Asbury  in  a  most  ex- 
traordinary degree. 

After  coming  to  America,  Asbury  acquired  a  good 
working  knowledge  of  both  the  Greek  and  the  Hebrew 
languages.  An  entry  made  in  his  journal  in  1777  ac- 
quaints us  with  the  fact  that  he  was  reading  the 
Scriptures  in  both  these  tongues.  That  was  six  years 
after  his  arrival  in  America.  A  later  entry  indicates 
that  he  was  giving  an  hour  each  day  to  the  Old  Tes- 
tament in  Hebrew.     It  is  certain  that  he  got  not  even 


42  Francis  Ashiiry. 

an  elemental  start  in  either  of  these  languages  during 
his  school  days;  but  he  must  almost  necessarily  have 
begun  the  study  of  one  or  both  during  his  days  of  ap- 
prenticeship in  Staffordshire. 

On  September  4,  177 1,  he  took  ship  for  the  voyage 
to  America.  On  that  day,  following  the  example  of 
Wesley  and  the  other  great  preachers  by  whom  he 
had  been  influenced,  he  began  to  keep  a  journal.  The 
records  made  in  this  journal  give  us  the  first  certain 
chart  of  his  literary  goings.  During  this  voyage  he 
read  a  number  of  books  of  dignified  titles.  His  com- 
ments upon  these  and  upon  other  related  matters  be- 
tray a  mental  purpose  and  a  clearness  of  philosophical 
perception  that  would  hardly  be  looked  for  in  a  man 
of  only  six  and  twenty  years,  and  especially  one  who 
had  enjoyed  so  little  training,  and  who  had  from  his 
twelfth  to  his  twenty-first  year  been  first  a  gentle- 
man's servant  and  then  a  saddler's  apprentice.  But 
somehow  the  busy  rustic  had  found  time  to  force  his 
mind  into  habits  of  concentration,  and  had  thus  led 
captive  the  captivity  of  his  own  life. 

Wesley  himself  fixed  a  standard  for  those  plain, 
''brow^n-bread"  preachers  who  came  to  him  through 
so  strange  an  ordering  of  providence.  To  these  he 
spoke  plainly  when  he  said:  "Reading  alone  can  sup- 
ply depth  to  preaching,  wdth  meditation  and  daily 
prayer."  To  help  to  this  end  he  set  a  rule  for  his 
preachers:  *'Fix  some  part  of  every  day  for  private 
exercises.  You  may  acquire  the  taste  which  you  have 
not.  What  is  tedious  at  first  will  afterwards  be  pleas- 
ant. Whether  you  like  it  or  not,  read  and  pray  daily. 
It  is  for  you  life.  There  is  no  other  way ;  else  you 
will  be  a  trifler  all  your  days  and  a  pretty  superficial 


Bringing  Up  the  Balance,  43 

preacher.  Do  justice  to  your  own  soul;  give  it  time 
and  means  to  grow;  do  not  starve  yourself  any 
longer." 

This  rule  of  the  leader  of  Methodism  had  trans- 
formed many  a  dull  and  clodlike  recruit  into  a  lively 
and  effective  witness  before  its  efficiency  was  tested 
by  Francis  Asbury ;  but  it  may  well  be  believed  that  in 
no  other  case  did  it  work  such  large,  such  surprising 
results.  Happily,  this  is  not  man's  expedient;  but  is, 
in  truth,  the  leaven  of  the  royal  Loaf  Giver,  and  is 
still  working,  and  working  well,  in  the  men  of  the 
newer  generations,  many  of  whom,  like  their  earlier 
predecessors,  have  been  called  from  lowly  and  untu- 
tored lives. 

Few  of  Mr.  Wesley's  preachers  imbibed  so  thor- 
oughly as  did  this  Staffordshire  helper  his  catholic 
taste  in  literature ;  and  while  Asbury's  literary  sym- 
pathy and  versatility  are  not  to  be  compared  with 
Wesley's,  they  were  nevertheless  unusual  in  one  com- 
ing from  the  ranks  to  which  he  belonged.  A.  cata- 
logue of  the  books  mentioned  in  Asbury's  journal  as 
having  been  read  by  him,  and  often  reread  and  care- 
fully studied,  would  run  considerably  above  one  hun- 
dred titles,  and  these  by  no  means  describe  the  ex- 
tent of  his  excursions  into  the  world  of  books. 
Amongst  the  volumes  mentioned  are  not  a  few  clas- 
sics. The  titles  also  cover  in  general  the  subjects  of 
poetry,  history,  politics,  biography,  philosophy,  and 
theology.  A  stray  volume  on  etiquette  is  mentioned 
as  having  been  perused,  and  the  State  papers  of  more 
than  one  publicist  were  also  carefully  studied.  Of 
course,  it  could  but  be  expected  that  works  of  theolo- 
gy, sermonology,  and  devotion  should  predominate  in 


44  Francis  Asbury. 

this  catalogue,  for  he  was  that  servant  who  counted 
the  wisdom  and  pride  of  this  world  as  nothing  in 
comparison  with  the  knowledge  of  Christ;  and  yet 
such  was  the  sanity  of  his  faith  and  the  sympathy  of 
his  heart  that  he  could  see  truth  outside  of  those 
channels  of  thought  which  seemed  to  him  to  be  Chris- 
tian as  distinguished  from  those  which  could  only  be 
classed  as  secular  or  pagan. 

Dr.  Strickland,  the  least  critical  of  Asbury's  biog- 
raphers, says  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the  litera- 
ture of  Greece  and  Rome ;  but  there  is  little  proof  of 
this.  There  are  few  references  in  his  journal  to  such 
reading,  and  the  matter  and  style  of  his  writings  be- 
tray no  suggestion  of  the  infectious  grace  and  harmo- 
nies of  those  Old  World  masterpieces.  There  is,  in- 
deed, an  occasional  use  made  of  classic  fact  and  inci- 
dent; but  the  knovvdedge  evinced  in  such  statements 
came  from  general  rather  than  special  reading. 

To  write  the  whole  truth  is  to  say  that  the  limita- 
tions imposed  upon  Asbury  by  his  lack  of  early  train- 
ing, and  which  he  so  much  bewailed,  showed  through 
his  whole  life.  He  was  forever  conscious  of  this  lack, 
and  it  must  be  set  down  to  the  credit  of  the  spirit  that 
always  strove  within  him  that  this  consciousness  more 
often  turned  to  humility  than  to  self-assertion,  the 
cloak  generally  employed  by  little  minds  to  hide  their 
nakedness. 

The  cry  of  the  saddler  in  the  years  before  1771,  be- 
wailing his  ignorance,  was  continued  as  an  under- 
breath  in  the  life  of  the  Bishop  and  apostle  of  the 
New  World.  If  he  seems  careful  not  to  disclose 
unnecessarily  the  humbleness  of  his  beginning  and  his 
early  relations,  he  never  once  laid  claim  to  being  what 


Bringing  Up  the  Balance,  45 

he  was  not,  nor  ever  sought  to  appear  other  than  the 
lowly  disciple  of  a  lowly  Master.  The  sign  is  here 
of  a  greatness  that  no  absence  of  the  finish  of  the 
schools  can  discount. 

For  his  attainment  in  letters  he  paid  the  price  of 
prodigious  industry;  and  even  this  had  been  insuffi- 
cient except  for  his  plan  of  work  and  study.  His 
habit,  when  not  traveling,  was  to  rise  at  four  o'clock 
each  morning  and,  after  prayer  and  meditation,  spend 
two  hours  in  reading  and  study.  After  that  came  a 
season  of  recreation  and  conversation,  and  then  the 
fuller  toils  and  open  duties  of  the  day.  He  was  awake 
sixteen  hours  out  of  the  twenty-four,  ten  of  which  he 
gave  to  reading  and  study.  When  on  his  travels  he 
carried  his  library  either  in  his  saddlebags  or  in  a 
small  chest  stowed  in  the  boot  of  his  chaise  or  sulky. 
Like  jMr.  Wesley,  he  knew  the  art  of  reading  while 
traveling  either  in  his  carriage  or  on  horseback.  It 
was  a  fixed  rule  with  him  to  read  a  minimum  of  one 
hundred  pages  daily.  Both  the  purpose  and  the  en- 
durance of  Atlas  must  have  been  necessary  to  sup- 
port through  the  ceaseless  changes  of  his  days  a 
task  like  that. 

A  nineteenth  century  Methodist  historian  quotes  the 
statement  that  the  ex-saddler  had  courted  the  poetic 
muse,  and  that  the  results  of  his  rhyming  exercises 
eventually  made  a  bulky  manuscript,  which  the  author 
once  thought  of  printing,  but  which,  on  the  frank  ad- 
vice of  a  discreet  friend,  he  with  his  own  hands  com- 
mitted to  oblivion.  It  is  not  difficult  to  imagine  the 
type  of  verse  that  would  come  from  that  serious  and 
unimaginative  pen.  But  the  fact  of  such  essays  is  not 
without  significance.     Sir  Philip  Sidney  declared  that 


4-6  Francis  Asbury. 

so  great  was  his  reverence  for  poetry  that  he  counted 
no  time  spent  upon  it  as  lost;  that  though  the  poetry 
itself  might  be  poor,  the  spirit  that  promped  it  and  the 
exercise  of  producing  it  could  only  be  worthy  and 
helpful.  But  however  this  principle  might  apply,  the 
action  of  the  embryo  Bishop  in  ruthlessly  destroying 
the  oft  spring  of  his  muse  can  only  be  thought  of  as 
one  of  characteristic  soberness  and  good  judgment. 
The  story  as  told  is  too  circumstantial  to  be  apocry- 
phal. To  repeat  it  may  serve  a  useful  end.  It  will 
doubtless  suggest  to  many  the  existence  in  the  soul 
of  that  serious  and  unworldly  man  of  sentiments  hith- 
erto unsuspected.  Did  he  who  was  forsworn  to  lone- 
liness and  wifeless  devotion  to  duty  still  find  some 
abstract  beauty  or  ideal  of  life  upon  which  to  lavish, 
in  whatever  imperfect  note  or  numbers,  the  loyalty 
and  worship  of  his  chaste  and  chivalrous  heart?  Or 
did  he,  like  some  hermit  priest,  weave  his  reverent 
fancies  into  nuptial  strophes  to  be  laid  at  the  feet  of 
the  Bride,  the  Church  ?  At  least  those  rhythmic  hours 
had  their  place  in  the  making  of  the  man  and  the 
soul  of  patience  and  love  that  crowned  his  life ;  and 
the  chronicler  has  fulfilled  his  office  in  preserving 
the  story. 

'Tt  is  needless  to  assess  Asbury's  intellect,"  says 
that  most  discriminating  historian,  Fitchett,  whom  we 
have  already  quoted.  No  more  is  it  worth  the  while 
to  attempt  to  discover  by  what  processes  he  came  to 
that  repletion  of  personal  force  and  equipment  with 
which  he  entered  upon  his  work  in  America.  His 
appearance  upon  the  stage  of  his  future  activity  was 
like  the  sudden  showing  to  Israel  of  John  the  Baptist. 
The  first  sight  of  him  was  of  a  man  made  perfect  for 


Bringing  Up  the  Balance.  47 

his  work.  But  when,  where,  and  how  ?  T]:e  perfected 
force  was  not  an  evolution  per  saltiim,  nor  the  re- 
peated miracle  of  brain-born  Athena;  but  the  product 
of  beaten  fiber  and  of  cranial  gray  matter  whose  at- 
tritions were  those  of  the  upper  and  the  nether  mill- 
stone. The  uttered  thoughts  of  the  man  showed  the 
striations  of  the  unrecorded  concentrations  and  men- 
tal efforts  of  the  awakened  youth  who  had  responded 
absolutely  to  the  call  of  his  destiny. 

His  final  response  to  that  destiny  w^as  made  on 
August  7,  1 77 1.  Being  on  that  day  within  two  weeks 
of  completing  his  twenty-sixth  year,  he  went  up  to 
the  Conference  at  Bristol  and  offered  himself  as  a 
missionary  to  North  America.  Others  had  offered 
also;  but  Wesley,  though  he  but  dimly  perceived  the 
wisdom  of  his  selection,  gave  commission  to  the 
youngest  member  of  the  group  of  applicants.  With 
a  fellow-helper,  Richard  Wright,  he  went  forth  on 
a  pilgrimage  that  was  to  lead  him  not  across  the  seas 
only,  but,  at  last,  over  untracked  wildernesses  and 
through  distant  years  to  the  attainment  of  "goals  un- 
imagined." 

Just  one  month  later — that  is  to  say,  on  September 
4,  1 77 1 — the  two  missionaries  embarked  for  their  long 
vo3^age.  Asbury  suffered  greatly  from  seasickness, 
which  was,  no  doubt,  aggravated  by  the  poor  provi- 
sions made  for  his  comfort  on  the  voyage.  The  Meth- 
odists of  Bristol  had  provided  money  for  the  passage 
of  the  missionaries,  but  had  neglected  to  provide  beds; 
and  as  the  vessel  was  a  freight  or  merchant  ship,  its 
cabin  accommodations  were  limited  to  its  officers. 
The  missionaries,  therefore,  were  reduced  to  the  ne- 
cessity of  sleeping  upon  the  cabin  floor,  with  no  cover- 


48  Francis  Asbury. 

ing  except  a  pair  of  blankets  each,  which  they  for- 
tunately had  in  their  outfits.  With  reading,  medita- 
tion, and  daily  prayers,  and  with  occasional  preaching 
to  the  sailors  on  the  groaning  decks,  they  finished  a 
trying  and  tempestuous  voyage  of  fifty-three  days.  On 
September  12,  being  the  eighth  day  after  the  begin- 
ning of  the  voyage,  Asbury  made  this  entry  in  his 
journal:  *'I  will  set  down  a  few  things  that  lie  on 
my  mind.  Whither  am  I  going?  To  the  New  World. 
What  to  do?  To  gain  honor?  Not  if  I  know  my 
own  heart.  To  get  money  ?  No ;  I  am  going  to  live 
to  God,  and  bring  others  so  to  do.  .  .  .  If  God  does 
not  acknowledge  me  in  America,  I  will  soon  return  to 
England.  I  know  my  views  are  upright  now.  May 
they  never  be  otherwise !" 

This  was  the  saddler's  apprentice  twelve  years  after 
his  conversion ;  this  was  the  destined  apostle,  who, 
unaided  save  by  help  divine,  had  brought  up  that 
which  was  lacking  in  his  mental  preparation  to  com- 
plete his  fitness  for  the  apostolate  upon  which  he  was 
now  so  soon  to  enter. 


CHAPTER   V. 
A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness. 

The  first  springing  of  Methodism  in  America  was 
so  thoroughly  a  matter  of  providence  that  even  the 
date  is  uncertain.  It  is  known,  however,  that  early 
in  the  second  half  of  the  eighteenth  century — some 
say  in  1760 — Robert  Strawbridge,  an  Irish  local 
preacher  who  had  emigrated  to  Maryland,  sowed  the 
seeds  in  that  colony.  In  1766  Philip  Embury,  another 
local  preacher  from  Ireland,  but  the  son  of  a  native 
of  the  Palatinate,  with  the  aid  of  Captain  Webb  of 
His  Majesty's  troop,  planted  the  cause  in  New  York. 
A  little  later  Captain  Webb  visited  Philadelphia,  then 
the  most  important  city  on  the  continent,  where  his 
labors  issued  in  the  organization  of  a  Methodist 
society. 

From  the  first  the  soil  of  the  New  World  proved 
friendly  to  the  Vv^esleyan  doctrines,  and  such  was  their 
spread  that  laborers  from  the  mother  country  were 
soon  in  demand  to  reenforce  the  volunteer  evangelists. 
The  English  Wesleyan  Conference,  which  met  at 
Leeds  in  1769,  appointed  Richard  Boardman  and 
Joseph  Pilmoor  to  the  work  in  America,  Boardman 
being  named  assistant  in  charge.  The  mighty  cir- 
cuit, which  now  comprises  nearly  three  hundred  An- 
nual Conferences  and  approximately  eight  millions  of 
Methodist  communicants,  probably  had  then  not  above 
three  hundred  members  in  society. 

Two  years  later — that  is,  on  October  2"],  1771 — 
Francis  Asbury  debarked  at  Philadelphia  from  his  long 
4  (49) 


50  Francis  Asbury. 

trans-Atlantic  voyage.  With  tlie  arrival  of  Asbury 
the  history  of  American  Methodism  really  begins.  At 
a  glance  the  new  helper  saw  that  the  policy  being 
pursued  by  Boardman  would  never  evangelize  the 
country.  Boardman  was  deficient  in  resources  and 
leadership,  and  had  no  power  of  initiative.  His  spirit 
was  missionary,  but  he  had  little  talent  for  evangelistic 
movement.  The  handful  of  preachers  under  him 
were  largely  cooped  up  in  the  cities  of  New  York  and 
Philadelphia.  Asbury  burned  with  itinerant  zeal.  His 
ideal  was  a  thoroughly  disciplined  body  of  gospel  ran- 
gers going  far  and  wide,  preaching  as  they  went.  He 
would  bring  about  the  conquest  of  the  continent 
through  the  foolishness  of  preaching.  The  future 
miracle  of  America's  evangelization  was  pent  within 
his  peasant  soul,  and  struggled  to  manifest  itself  while 
yet  he  stood  at  the  threshold  of  his  new  destiny.  To 
his  ideal  and  to  his  tireless  labors  tO'  realize  it  the 
Church  owes  the  itinerancy.  He  was  the  first  of  the 
preachers  in  America  to  form  and  regularly  travel  a 
circuit. 

Within  two  weeks  of  his  arrival  on  the  continent 
he  had  preached  a  number  of  times  in  Philadelphia, 
and  had  traveled  the  entire  distance  to  New  York  on 
horseback,  preaching  as  he  went  in  Pennsylvania,  the 
Jerseys,  and  on  Staten  Island.  Thus  he  set  at  once 
the  pace  which  he  kept  for  nearly  half  a  century  as 
an  American  itinerant. 

General  Assistant  Boardman  appointed  the  new- 
comer to  labor  as  his  associate  for  three  months  in 
New  York  City.  It  was  just  sixteen  days  after  his 
arrival  in  America  that  he  preached  for  the  first  time 
in  the  pulpit  of  Embury's  Chapel.     Besides  Boardman 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness.  51 

he  found  Captain  Webb  in  the  city,  and  ahnost  imme- 
diately expressed  his  disapproval  of  the  waste  of  labor. 
Three  preachers  shut  up  for  a  whole  winter  to  the 
charge  of  a  single  congregation !  He  would  not  con- 
sent to  see  it.  In  his  journal  he  poured  out  his  soul  in 
these  words :  *T  have  not  yet  the  thing  which  I  seek — ■ 
a  circulation  of  the  preachers.  ...  I  am  fixed  to 
the  Methodist  plan." 

"Circulation"  was  his  watchword.  And  he  pro- 
ceeded to  circulate.  Asking  permission  of  no  one, 
he  struck  out,  midv/eeks,  through  the  winter  snows 
to  build  on  new  foundations.  Westchester,  ''a  back 
settlement"  tovv'n  twenty  miles  from  New  York,  was 
first  visited.  There  and  at  West  Farms  he  preached 
three  times.  This  was  his  beginning.  Before  the 
close  of  the  year,  it  being  then  near  the  middle  of 
December,  he  had  revisited  Westchester  and  West 
Farms,  had  held  evangelistic  meetings  at  New  Ro- 
chelle,  Rye,  Eastchester,  DeVeau's,  and  INIamaroneck, 
and  had  also  gone  again  over  his  earlier  plantings  on 
Staten  Island.  During  January  he  enlarged  this  cir- 
cuit and  cultivated  it  with  tireless  zeal.  But  this  de- 
votion was  not  without  cost.  Exposure  to  the  rigor- 
ous winter  brought  on  a  variety  of  ailments,  the  first 
of  those  bodily  afflictions  from  which  he  suffered  dur- 
ing his  long  service  in  America.  A  little  constrained 
rest  brought  him  relief,  and  by  the  end  of  February 
he  was  able  to  set  off  for  a  preaching  tour  through 
New  Jersey.  This  journey,  filled  with  evangelistic 
incidents,  ended  at  Philadelphia  early  in  April,  when 
the  first  quarterly  meeting  for  the  year  was  held. 

Asbury's  example  had  perceptibly  stirred  the  breth- 
ren, and  especially  Eoardman.     Large  plans  were  laid 


52  Francis  Ashnry. 

for  the  next  year.  Each  preacher  was  given  a  pros- 
pective circuit  and  instructed  to  cultivate  all  the  land 
possible.  Wright  was  to  go  to  New  York,  Pilmoor 
was  to  move  on  the  South  (Maryland  and  Delaware), 
Asbury  w^as  to  have  Philadelphia  as  a  cure,  and  Board- 
man  was  to  take  New  England.  Boardman  did  go 
as  far  north  as  Providence,  and  there  is  a  tradition 
that  he  also  visited  Boston ;  but  he  was  hardly  the  man 
to  leave  ineffaceable  footprints  in  so  naturally  unre- 
sponsive a  land.  That  honor  was  reserved  for  a  na- 
tive son  of  Methodism. 

The  entire  preaching  force  of  Methodism  in  Ameri- 
ca at  this  time  consisted  of  nine  men — namely,  Rich- 
ard Boardman  (General  Assistant),  Joseph  Pilmoor, 
Francis  Asbury,  Richard  Wright,  Philip  Embury, 
Robert  Strawbridge,  Captain  Webb,  Robert  Williams 
(who  liad  come  over  by  consent  of  Mr.  Wesley  in 
1769),  and  John  King,  a  local  preacher  licensed  in 
America.  As  Asbury  contemplated  the  plan  for  se- 
curing an  early  circulation  of  the  preachers  from  the 
centers  to  the  peripheries,  he  took  courage  and  went 
about  his  task. 

St.  George's  Church,  the  Methodist  meetinghouse 
in  Philadelphia,  had  been  bought  from  a  Dutch  con- 
gregation unable  to  maintain  it.  It  was  a  pretentious 
structure  for  that  time.  This  led  to  its  being  called 
''the  Methodist  Cathedral."  The  property  was  en- 
cumbered with  a  considerable  debt,  which  Asbury  un- 
dertook to  raise.  There  were  a  number  of  preaching 
places  attached  to  the  charge,  and  to  these  the  busy 
itinerant  added  enough  to  make  his  preaching  engage- 
ments at  least  one  each  day.  Often  he  preached  three 
times  during  the  hours  between  5  a.m.  and  9  p.m.    On 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness.  53 

a  special  tour  he  rode  as  far  southward  as  Wihning- 
ton,  Delaware,  and  Bohemia  Manor,  in  the  province 
of  Maryland,  preaching  as  he  went,  preaching  as  he 
returned.  In  barns,  in  taverns,  in  courthouses,  in 
prisons,  at  public  executions,  and  in  the  open  he  pro- 
claimed a  present  salvation.  Nor  was  his  Vv-ay  always 
smooth.  Not  only  all  but  impassable  roads,  but  in- 
different and  persecuting  hearts  of  men,  impeded  his 
progress.  Yet  of  Bereans  he  found  not  a  few,  and 
had  cheer  without  as  within.  Returning  homeward, 
his  soliloquy  was:  "I  humbly  hope  that  about  seven 
preachers  of  us  will  spread  seven  or  eight  hundred 
miles,  and  preach  in  as  many  places  as  we  are  able 
to  attend."  Modest  as  that  hope  now  appears,  it  was 
then  the  expression  of  a  confidence  nothing  short  of 
heroism. 

Asbury  was  a  Wesleyan — a  rigid  disciplinarian — 
and  gave  offense  to  the  Philadelphians  in  his  require- 
ment of  obedience  to  the  rules  of  society.  There  were 
loud  objections  against  his  administration;  but  he  met 
criticism  calmly,  read  an  epistle  from  Mr.  Wesley  ap- 
proving his  course,  entered  his  own  reflections  in  his 
journal,  and  persevered  as  he  had  begun. 

It  was,  no  doubt,  well  for  those  heroic  men  and 
their  causes  that  they  were  not  permitted  to  continue 
in  one  stay.  After  an  incumbency  of  one  quarter, 
Asbury  was  called  away  from  his  troubles  in  Phila- 
delphia to  new  ones  in  New  York  City.  Thither  he 
carried  his  methods  of  discipline  used  In  his  former 
charge,  reenforcing  them,  as  before,  with  the  letter 
of  Mr.  Wesley.  His  predecessor's  policy  had  pro- 
duced much  confusion.  Neglect  of  class  meeting  re- 
strictions had  been  encourag-ed,  even  worldliness  had 


54  Francis  Asbury. 

not,  as  he  judged,  been  properly  rebuked,  and  these 
tendencies  he  set  himself  to  correct.  Steadily,  firmly 
he  moved  toward  the  standard  which  he  had  set. 
Sharp  contests  arose  between  him  and  his  officials; 
but  he  kept  his  serenity,  as  also  his  purpose,  and,  as 
was  his  wont,  committed  himself  only  to  his  journal. 

These  vexatious  concerns  kept  him  much  employed 
in  the  city;  still  he  found  time  to  swing  out  over  his 
former  ''back  country"  field,  including  the  region  of 
New  Rochelle  and  the  Staten  Island  district.  In  the 
midst  of  these  varying  experiences  he  was  cheered 
by  news  of  a  great  spiritual  and  temporal  prosperity 
being  enjoyed  by  the  society  in  Philadelphia.  So 
early,  indeed,  had  his  zeal  for  order  and  discipline 
been  justified.  The  faithful  word  of  correction  re- 
jected at  first  had  at  last  been  heeded  and  had  yielded 
the  peaceable   fruits  of  righteousness. 

He  was  just  turning  his  twenty-seventh  year,  and 
was  also  nearing  the  end  of  his  quarter  in  New  York, 
when  an  important  letter  came  from  Mr.  Wesley.  The 
inevitable  had  happened.  That  letter  announced  to 
Asbury  his  appointment  to  be  General  Assistant  of 
the  work  in  America.  J\Ir.  Wesley  in  sending  Asbury 
out  had,  no  doubt,  designed  his  advancement  to  this 
responsibility.  If  he  had  not,  a  single  year  had  shown 
him  the  advantage  of  the  appointment.  Boardman 
lacked  the  qualities  which  his  younger  colaborer  pos- 
sessed in  so  remarkable  a  degree. 

Near  the  end  of  October,  1772,  Asbury  started 
northward  by  stage  to  meet  Mr.  Boardman.  Their 
conference  was  held  at  Princeton,  the  seat  of  the  his- 
toric Presbyterian  college.  The  precincts  of  colleges 
and  universities  v/ere  sacred  ground  to  Asbury,  peas- 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness.  55 

ant-bred  and  diplomaless  though  he  was.  If  he  was 
possessed  of  a  single  worldly  ambition,  it  was  that  of 
being  the  founder  of  a  real  college  for  his  people,  and 
possibly  the  failure  to  realize  this  purpose  was  the 
chief  disappointment  of  his  life.  It  was  natural, 
therefore,  that  he  should  improve  his  stay  in  Prince- 
ton by  visiting  the  college  and  its  pious  ex-President, 
the  venerable  Mr.  Davies. 

Boardman  accepted  the  promotion  of  his  youthful 
colleague  in  a  spirit  of  loyalty.  He  had,  no  doubt, 
anticipated  it ;  but  there  was  certainly  at  this  time 
not  enough  worldly  distinction  in  the  position  to  make 
the  attainment  of  it  a  matter  of  ambition  or  the  loss 
of  it  an  occasion  for  rancor.  Whatever  his  feeling, 
Boardman  certainly  behaved  well,  and  reflected  credit 
upon  himself  and  his  calling.  After  a  brief  consul- 
tation, the  preachers  were  stationed,  Asbury  designa- 
ting himself  to  labor  for  six  months  in  Maryland. 

To  no  man  so  much  as  to  Francis  Asbury  is  Mary- 
land indebted  for  early  gospel  seed  sowing.  To 
Maryland  he  gave  the  best  labors  of  his  life  and  an 
extraordinary  measure  of  patriotic  affection.  His 
best  beloved  and  forever  loyal  friends  were  those 
generous  Maryland  gentlefolk  who  had  welcomed 
to  their  boards  the  blameless  and  unworldly  youth 
whose  only  passion  was  the  love  of  souls.  During 
all  those  homeless  years  in  which  he  journeyed  up  and 
down  the  continent  he  counted  Maryland  his  home,  and 
it  was  according  to  his  wish  that  his  dust  found  sepul- 
ture at  last  in  the  soil  he  loved. 

Every  condition  at  this  time  made  Maryland  the 
most  inviting  field  for  Methodism  in  all  America.  Its 
people  were  agreed  on  no  hard  and  fast  creed  like 


56  Francis  Asbury. 

that  which  made  New  England  an  impervious  sohdar- 
ity.  Roman  Cathohcism  and  the  Enghsh  Church 
largely  divided  the  population.  Bodies  of  Huguenots 
and  communities  of  dissenters  also  mingled  in  the 
general  mass.  But  Anglicanism  dominated,  and  An- 
gHcanism  was  the  native  soil  of  Methodism.  Yet 
even  the  Established  Church  was  poorly  supplied  with 
priests.  There  were  parish  lines,  but  few  churches. 
Probably  not  more  than  a  dozen  parsons  could  have 
been  counted  in  the  entire  colony,  and  of  these  not 
above  two  or  three  had  more  than  a  show  of  piety. 
The  people  v/ere  either  rich  or  well  to  do.  Many 
large  estates,  with  palatial  manors  and  country  homes, 
dotted  the  fertile  districts.  Tobacco,  then  perhaps  the 
most  profitable  commodity  known  to  commerce,  was 
the  chief  product.  Slaveholding  had  created,  or  per- 
haps had  attracted  from  the  other  colonies  and  the 
mother  country,  a  wealthy  aristocracy.  Abundant 
wealth  was  matched  with  refinement,  polite  manners, 
and  excessive  worldliness,  not  to  say  wickedness.  The 
sins  imported  from  England  had  mingled  vanity  with 
indigenous  recklessness.  Yet  except  in  certain  centers 
there  was  present  little  of  that  deadly  deism  which 
had  withered  the  religious  life  of  England  and  France 
during  the  first  half  of  the  century.  But  if  there  was 
no  great  prejudice  against  religion,  there  was  no  exhi- 
bition of  zeal  in  its  favor.  The  land  waited  for  the 
coming  of  the  reformers. 

Toward  this  missionary  Phthia  Asbury  turned  his 
face.  In  company  with  Robert  Strawbridge,  who  had 
already  laid  out  a  principality  in  the  southern  reaches 
of  the  colony,  he  left  Philadelphia  about  the  end  of 
October,  with  Bohemia  Manor  as  an  objective.     This 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness.  57 

had  been  a  favorite  stopping  place  of  Whitefield's.  It 
was  a  seat  of  colonial  chivalry  and  the  key  to  Ivlary- 
land.  Here  was  the  habitat  of  tlie  Bayards,  the  Bou- 
chelles,  and  the  Herseys,  great  names  in  the  history 
of  the  colony,  and  not  unknown  to  the  citizenship  of 
the  later  sovereignty. 

The  journey  southward  was  a  continuous  gospel 
call.  Daily — at  the  gates  of  prisons,  at  the  doors  of 
comfortable  homes,  in  schoolhouses,  in  family  circles, 
by  the  river  and  bay  sides,  to  friends,  to  strangers,  to 
masters,  to  slaves — the  tireless  itinerant  opened  the 
Word  of  life.  Two  entries  made  in  his  journal  at  this 
time  will  give  an  idea  of  his  audiences : 

"November  i. — After  preaching  at  H's  in  the  morn- 
ing, I  intended  preaching  in  the  schoolhouse  in  the 
evening;  but  it  would  not  contain  half  the  people,  so 
I  stood  at  the  door  and  the  people  without." 

''November  4. — This  evening  I  had  a  very  solemn 
family  meeting,  and  spoke  separately  and  privately  to 
every  one^  both  black  and  white." 

From  Bohemia  IManor  he  pressed  on  through 
Northern  and  Western  Maryland,  preaching  and  ex- 
horting daily,  and  praying  in  the  homes  which  he 
entered.  The  fruits  were  large,  though  a  measure  of 
real  persecution  was  experienced.  The  following 
journal  notes  will  illustrate  the  variable  fortunes  of 
the  itinerary: 

"November  5. — Unexpectedly  found  the  people  at 
two  o'clock  waiting  to  hear  the  Word.  I  preached 
with  liberty,  and  the  power  of  God  was  felt  in  the 
hearts  of  many,  though  some  of  them  were  principal 
men." 

"November  19. — A  poor,  unhappy  man  abused  me 


58  Francis  Ashury. 

much  on  the  road ;  he  cursed^  swore,  and  threw  stones 
at  me.  But  I  found  it  my  duty  to  talk  to  him  and  show 
him  his  danger." 

"December  3. — Preached  at  James  Pressbury's  to 
many  people  who  could  feel  the  Word,  and  with  much 
power  in  my  own  soul.  Then  rode  three  miles  into 
the  Neck,  and  had  a  solemn  and  heart-affecting  time 
while  preaching  from  Rev.  ii.  11." 

"December  6. — Went  about  five  miles  to  preach  in 
our  first  preaching  house.  The  house  had  no  win- 
dows or  doors,  the  weather  was  cold,  so  that  my 
heart  pitied  the  people  when  I  saw  them  so  exposed. 
Putting  a  handkerchief  over  my  head,  I  preached,  and 
after  an  hour's  intermission,  the  people  waiting  all 
the  time  in  the  cold,  I  preached  again." 

In  Kent  County  Asbury  was  met  by  one  ^Eneas 
Ross,  a  priest  of  the  Established  Church,  who  forbade 
him  to  preach  anywhere  within  the  limits  of  his  parish. 
Asbury's  answer  was  mild;  but  he  denied  the  legality 
of  such  an  interdict.  The  rejoinder  of  the  priest  was 
imperious,  not  to  say  insulting,  whereupon  the  lay  rep- 
resentative of  the  Reverend  John  Wesley  informed  the 
Churchman  that  he  had  come  into  those  parts  to 
preach,  and  preach  he  would  without  regard  to  the 
inhibition.  Thereupon  the  parson  pushed  a  contro- 
versy upon  the  visitor,  and  got  the  worst  of  it,  vvdiich 
greatly  delighted  the  people  of  the  parish,  who  cared 
little  for  the  parson's  ministry,  and  paid  their  tobacco 
tithe  only  because  it  was  levied  by  law.  Asbury 
preached  on  the  spot,  not  once,  but  twice,  and  many 
great  people  of  the  county  heard  the  tidings  gladly. 

After  six  weeks  the  itinerant  had  completed  the 
round  of  his  extended  circuit,  and  was  back,  having 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness.  59 

traveled  not  less  than  three  hundred  miles,  and  hav- 
ing preached  probably  no  fewer  than  one  hundred 
sermons  and  delivered  as  many  exhortations. 

On  December  23,  1772,  was  held  in  the  Alaryland 
Circuit  the  first  quarterly  meeting  in  America  of 
which  we  have  a  definite  account.  It  was  certainly 
the  first  worthy  the  name,  those  quarterly  gatherings 
called  by  Boardman  during  the  previous  year  being 
merely  informal  interviews  at  which  he  announced  the 
assignment  of  his  helpers.  This  meeting  was  discipli- 
nary and  fiscal,  and  permanent  notes  of  its  proceedings 
were  kept.  The  characters  of  the  preachers  and  ex- 
horters  were  examined,  the  quarterage  was  divided, 
and  Asbury  strictly  interpreted  the  rules  for  the  con- 
duct of  the  work.  It  was  at  this  meeting  that  he 
formally  disapproved  of  Strawbridge's  course  in  as- 
suming to  administer  the  sacraments.  He  undertook 
to  put  the  Irishman  under  the  rule;  but  Strawbridge 
would  not  yield  the  point,  and  Asbury  was  constrained 
to  tolerate  the  innovation.  This  was  the  germ  of  the 
historic  "sacramental  controversy,"  which  came  so 
near  disrupting  the  American  societies  some  years 
later. 

Five  helpers  were  present  at  this  meeting.  The 
colony  of  Maryland  outside  of  Baltimore  and  contig- 
uous points  was  divided  amongst  the  helpers,  Asbury 
reserving  to  himself  the  city  and  its  neighborhood. 
Baltimore  was  at  this  time  an  important  continental 
port,  with  probably  six  thousand  population.  The 
General  Assistant  was  even  then  able  to  divine  some- 
thing of  its  future  importance  to  Methodism. 

On  Christmas  day,  1772,  Asbury  made  his  first  entry 
into  Baltimore.     That  was  exactlv  fourteen  years  be- 


6o  Francis  Ashury. 

fore  his  consecration  to  the  episcopacy.  From  that 
day  to  the  end  of  his  Hfe  his  name  was  closely  asso- 
ciated with  the  religious  life  of  the  city. 

There  had  been  ivlethodist  preaching  in  Baltimore 
before  Asbury's  time.  John  King  had  preached  there 
in  1770,  and  in  1772  both  Pilmoor  and  Boardman  vis- 
ited it  in  their  rounds.  It  is  claimed  on  good  authority 
that  the  first  society  was  organized  in  Baltimore  in 
June,  1772.  Asbury  preached  there  for  the  first  time 
January  3,  1773,  to  a  large  congregation,  and  with 
decided  effect.  The  society  was  revived  and  strength- 
ened, and  in  due  time  the  foundations  of  the  first  chap- 
el were  laid. 

As  might  be  expected,  Baltimore  City  served  Asbury 
only  as  a  base  of  operation.  From  January  until  the 
end  of  March  he  was  putting  in  every  day  not  neces- 
sary to  be  spent  in  Baltimore  in  evangelizing  through 
a  w4de  reach  of  adjacent  country.  Not  a  few  fami- 
lies whose  names  have  become  historic  in  Methodism 
were  at  this  time  gathered  into  the  societies  in  Mary- 
land over  v/hich  he  had  immediate  charge.  By  the 
end  of  the  year  the  members  in  society  in  the  colony 
numbered  five  hundred,  being  one-half  of  all  the  Meth- 
odists on  the  American  continent. 

The  winter  was  an  exceptionally  rigorous  one,  and 
Asbury's  bodily  ailments  were  aggravated  by  his  con- 
stant exposure  in  travel.  Also  disturbing  news  came 
from  the  North — from  New  York  and  Philadelphia. 
Trouble  was  at  hand.  Human  jealousies  were  at  work 
amongst  the  saints.  The  youthful  overseer  had  pro- 
voked the  opposition  of  his  older  subordinates.  Mr. 
Pilmoor  was  in  an  unbrotherly  mood.  Perhaps  Mr. 
Boardman  was  secretly  and  humanly  jealous.     Per- 


A  Voice  in  the  Wilderness,  6i 

haps  Asbury  had  been  unduly  rigid  in  administration ; 
he  was  reticent  and  secretive  by  nature,  and  had  not 
taken  the  brethren  into  his  confidence.  Necessity  dic- 
tated a  course,  and  he  had  followed  it.  The  future 
"episcopos"  was  being  shadowed  forth. 

Mr.  Wesley  had  been  written  to;  both  sides  had 
written.  This  correspondence  had  created  a  condi- 
tion which  must  be  met.  Besides,  a  lust  for  numbers 
had  tempted  the  brethren  in  the  Northern  stations  to 
again  relax  the  disciplinary  class  rules.  Asbury  de- 
termined to  correct  the  trouble  in  person,  and  pre- 
pared to  ride  northward  on  an  official  visitation.  A 
journal  entry  made  at  this  time  is  significant: 

"March  8. — Rose  this  morning  with  a  determination 
to  fight  or  die;  and  spent  an  hour  in  earnest  prayer. 
Lord,  keep  me  ever  watchful." 

A  second  quarterly  meeting  for  the  ^Maryland  Cir- 
cuit was  called  and  held  at  Susquehanna  March  29. 
The  work  was  found  to  be  prosperous,  and  every- 
thing was  set  in  order.  Strict  obedience  to  discipline 
was  again  demanded.  Strawbridge  had  already  agreed 
to  desist  from  administering  the  sacraments,  and  a 
good  understanding  obtained.  The  helpers  were  again 
assigned,  and  Asbury  proceeded,  after  a  brief  time, 
on  his  visitation  to  the  disturbed  societies  in  New 
York  and  Philadelphia.  From  the  middle  of  April 
to  the  first  of  June  he  spent  his  time  between  these 
two  cities,  enforcing  discipline  or  earnestly  endeavor- 
ing to  do  so,  according  to  the  Wesleyan  standard,  and 
evangelizing  in  the  intermediate  regions. 

Naturally  this  was  to  him  a  time  of  great  stress  and 
concern;  but  his  journal  breathes  a  spirit  of  confi- 
dence and  serene  courage ;  and  it  is  doubtful  if  at  any 


62  Francis  Asbury. 

period  of  his  ministry  he  was  more  active  or  preached 
with  more  evangehcal  force  and  effectiveness.  Per- 
haps in  this  there  was  a  conservation  of  grace,  a  prov- 
idential filHng  up  of  his  powers  of  soul  and  mind, 
for  immediately  before  him  was  the  season  of  his 
life's  supremest  test. 


CHAPTER   \T. 
Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline. 

The  x\merican  societies  needed  the  superintendency 
of  an  experienced  disciplinarian  and  organizer.  This 
Wesley  read  from  the  somewhat  conflicting  corre- 
spondence which  came  to  him  from  the  field.  The  oral 
representations  of  Captain  Webb,  who  had  gone  to 
England  to  plead  for  more  missionaries,  also  helped 
him  to  this  conclusion.  It  was  agreed  that  a  leader, 
or  leaders,  should  be  supplied.  Webb  asked  for  Chris- 
topher Hopper  and  Joseph  Benson,  great  lights  of  the 
Wesleyan  Conference ;  but  Wesley  could  spare  neither. 
After  some  delay,  Thomas  Rankin,  a  skilled  adminis- 
trator, a  man  of  mature  years,  one  of  Wesley's  trusted 
lieutenants,  and  who  had  also  seen  military  service 
with  the  king's  armies,  was  sent  over  to  take  charge 
of  the  work  in  America.  Asbury  had  thus,  in  his  turn, 
an  opportunity  to  show  with  what  grace  he  could  ac- 
cept a  successor.  He  met  Mr.  Rankin  in  Philadelphia 
on  June  3,  1773,  and  received  him  with  great  cordiality. 
Beyond  a  doubt,  it  was  a  relief  to  be  eased  of  a  burden 
which  had  sorely  weighed  him  down. 

Asbury  was  not  greatly  impressed  with  Rankin's 
preaching,  of  which  he  had  an  early  sample;  but  he 
found  no  occasion  to  doubt  that  as  a  disciplinarian  he 
would  "fill  his  place."  Of  how  he  filled  his  place,  As- 
bury's  journal  during  the  next  few  years  tells  an  inter- 
esting, if  still  a  very  humanlike,  story. 

The  new  General  Assistant  took  up  the  work  with 
spirit  and  vigor.     Almost  his  first  official  act  was  to 

(63) 


64  Francis  Ashiiry. 

call  a  conference  of  the  preachers.  The  sitting  began 
in  St.  George's  Church,  Philadelphia,  on  July  14,  1773, 
and  was  continued  for  two  days.  Ten  preachers  were 
present,  two  of  them  being  George  Shadford  and 
Joseph  Yearbry,  who  had  come  over  with  Rankin 
under  appointment  from  Mr.  Wesley.  One  thousand 
one  hundred  and  sixty  members  were  reported  in 
society,  being  an  increase  of  nearly  four  hundred  per 
cent  in  a  little  more  than  two  years.  A  tremendous 
testimony  that  to  the  labors  and  example  of  Asbury ! 

This  was  the  first  American  Conference.  Previous 
to  this  the  preachers  had  met  only  in  quarterly  meet- 
ings; but  now  began  that  series  of  yearly  gatherings 
of  the  itinerants  that  have  created  so  unique  and  im- 
portant a  literature,  and  exercised  so  vast  an  influence 
in  promoting  the  growth  of  Methodism. 

The  disciplinary  strictness  of  Rankin's  presidency 
at  this  Conference  gave  Asbury  much  satisfaction;  and 
naturally,  for  it  emphasized  his  ovv^n  rulings  and  con- 
tentions during  the  two  previous  years.  The  categor- 
ical record  recites  that  "the  old  Methodist  doctrine  and 
discipline  shall  be  enforced."  A  decree  also  went  out 
against  those  "who  manifested  a  desire  to  abide  in 
the  cities  and  live  like  gentlemen."  That  this  v/as 
meant  to  have  pointed  reference  to  Boardman  and 
Pilmoor,  there  is  abundant  evidence;  nor  did  either 
Rankin  or  Asbury  have  any  desire  to  conceal  the  fact. 
The  administration  of  that  year  was  free  from  dis- 
ingenuity. 

Asbury  had  triumphed  in  his  successor.  He  was 
full  of  serenity  and  confidence,  and  to  add  to  his  com- 
posed state  of  mind,  he  had  probably,  as  the  retiring 
superintendent  of  the  work,  been  permitted  to  name 


Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline.  65 

his  own  field  of  labor.  He  chose  Baltimore,  where  he 
had  left  so  many  great  plans  unrealized,  and  from 
which  he  had  been  absent  but  three  months.  For 
helpers  in  Maryland,  he  had  Robert  Strawbridge, 
Abraham  Whitworth,  and  Joseph  Yearbry.  He  was 
now  to  see  the  fulfillment  of  his  hope,  expressed  in 
1772 — namely,  "about  seven  preachers  spread  seven 
or  eight  hundred  miles/'  and  preaching  in  as  many 
places  as  they  were  able  to  attend. 

Within  the  first  two  hours  following  the  adjourn- 
ment of  the  Conference  Asbury  was  in  the  saddle  and 
on  his  way  toward  Bohemia  Manor.  That  night  he 
preached  at  Chester,  and  daily  thereafter  in  places  to 
the  southward.  On  July  18,  two  days  after  the  close 
of  the  Conference,  he  made  this  entry  in  his  journal : 
''My  soul  has  enjoyed  great  peace  this  week,  in  which 
I  have  ridden  near  one  hundred  miles  since  my  de- 
parture from  Philadelphia,  and  have  preached  often, 
and  sometimes  great  solemnity  has  rested  on  the  con- 
gregations." 

The  first  quarterly  meeting  in  Maryland  was  held 
a  fortnight  after  Asbury's  arrival.  It  was  marked  by 
no  important  event,  except  Strawbridge's  recalcitrancy 
in  the  matter  of  the  sacraments.  He  would  not  rec- 
ognize the  authority  of  the  Conference  to  either  estop 
or  regulate  him.  A  free-souled  Irishman,  before  his 
conversion  he  had  been  a  Calvinistic  dissenter  in  sym- 
pathy, and  he  did  not  share  the  High-church  prejudices 
of  his  English  brethren.  The  arguments  so  strong 
with  them  weighed  nothing  w^ith  him.  Asbury  could, 
therefore,  do  no  more  than  his  predecessors  had  done 
— leave  the  honest  independent  alone.  Asbury  did  not 
know  it  then;  perhaps  he  did  not  recognize  it  after-. 
5 


66  Francis  Ashury. 

wards — for  he  regarded  Strawbridge  as  "a  weak  and 
irregular  instrument" — but  it  was  the  courage  and  in- 
dependent honesty  of  men  hke  Strawbridge,  united  to 
his  own  love  of  order  and  discipline,  that  gave  so  dis- 
tinctly an  American  and  democratic  spirit  to  the  Con- 
ference of  1784 — the  one  that  gave  to  the  New  World 
its  most  characteristic  ecclesiasticism. 

Immediately  after  the  quarterly  meeting  Asbury  re- 
paired to  Baltimore,  where  he  began  a  campaign  which 
soon  made  that  city  the  center  not  only  of  the  Metho- 
dism of  Maryland^  but  of  the  Methodism  of  the  Con- 
tinent. New  York  and  Philadelphia  had  at  this  time 
each  but  a  single  house  for  Methodist  worship.  Bal- 
timore had  already  in  the  previous  year  laid  the  foun- 
dations of  the  famous  old  Strawberry  Alley  Chapel, 
and  during  this  year  completed  the  far  more  famous 
house  in  Lovely  Lane,  in  which  the  Christmas  Con- 
ference was  later  held,  and  in  which  Asbury  was  elect- 
ed and  consecrated  to  the  episcopacy. 

The  circuit  which  Asbury  and  his  helpers  traveled 
in  1773  contained  fully  thirty  preaching  places.  Be- 
sides these,  the  Assistant  added  to  his  own  itinerary 
innumerable  stops  and  detours,  each  of  which  ended 
in  a  prayer,  an  exhortation,  or  a  sermon.  The  journal 
record  of  his  goings  is  a  ceaseless,  tireless  cry  from 
day  to  day,  from  dawn  to  night,  save  for  those  days, 
weeks,  and  often  fortnights,  in  which  the  ague  and 
burning  fevers,  caused  by  malarial  poisoning,  pros- 
trated him  and  made  going  impossible.  Fully  one- 
third  of  the  time  from  midsummer,  1773,  to  January, 
1774,  he  was  confined  to  his  bed  in  some  plantation 
house,  or  in  some  tavern  by  the  way,  and  during  the 
first  half  of  the  next  year  he  suffered  scarcely  less. 


Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline.  67 

Surely,  never  was  martyr  more  indifferent  to  life! 
With  fevers  not  wholly  abated,  weak,  faint,  and  with 
flesh  and  muscle  flaccid  from  impoverished  blood  and 
depleted  tissue,  he  would  mount  his  horse  and  ride 
through  drenching  rains  and  miasmatic  fogs,  or  what- 
ever other  vicissitudes  the  seasons  brought.  He  was 
a  voice,  and  in  weakness  or  in  strength,  in  pain  or  in 
joy,  the  cry  was  the  same. 

He  hungered  for  perfection ;  but  w^as  beset  by  con- 
scious frailties,  and  embarrassed  by  limitations  which 
he  labored  to  remove.  Often  he  thought  himself  near 
the  goal  of  completeness,  but,  admonished  by  an  intro- 
spection, he  drew  back  to  fight  another  stage.  This 
recurring  record  would,  if  that  document  possessed 
no  other  value,  render  his  journal  priceless  as  a  test 
both  of  the  doctrine  and  the  experience  of  Christian 
perfection. 

Methodism  in  and  about  Baltimore  advanced  rapidly 
during  this  year.  There  was  a  continuous  revival, 
though  the  modern  protracted  meeting  was  unknown. 
Six  services  were  held,  on  an  average,  each  week  in 
and  about  the  city.  The  quarterly  meetings  were  sea- 
sons of  exceptional  interest  and  power.  Asbury  at- 
tended these  In  person,  and  to  at  least  one  of  them 
Rankin  lent  the  additional  interest  of  his  presidency. 

Probably  a  thousand  people  were  this  year  converted 
under  the  preaching  of  Asbury  and  his  helpers.  The 
members  in  society  in  j^daryland  increased  from  five 
hundred  to  nearly  eleven  hundred.  At  the  next  Con- 
ference the  widely  scattered  plantations  and  villages 
showed  a  sufficient  Methodist  population  to  warrant 
the  organization  of  three  separate  circuits  in  the 
colony. 


68  Francis  Asbury. 

The  personal  ministry  of  Asbury,  who  had  learned 
his  manners  in  service  and  who  had  received  his  bap- 
tism and  call  in  a  cotter's  barn,  made  fresh  inroads 
upon  the  polite  and  godless  people  whose  estates  were 
embraced  within  his  vast  circuit.  Mr.  Harry  Dorsey 
Gough,  Captain  Charles  Ridgeley,  and  Mr.  Carroll, 
wealthy  planters  and  influential  men  in  the  colony, 
were  amongst  his  hearers.  Captain  Ridgeley  became 
an  early  convert,  and  Mr.  Gough  and  his  wife,  though 
slow  to  yield,  were  sometime  afterwards  blessed  with 
Pentecostal  experiences,  and  became  the  leaders  and 
inspirational  types  of  Methodism  throughout  Mary- 
land. 'Terry  Hall,"  the  seat  of  the  Goughs,  was  one 
of  the  most  spacious  mansions  in  America.  It  was 
situated  about  a  dozen  miles  from  Baltimore,  and  be- 
came not  only  a  home  for  Asbury  and  the  other  preach- 
ers, but  w^as  for  years  a  noted  Methodist  meeting 
place,  its  splendid  drawing-rooms  being  thrown  open 
for  that  use.  Later  a  chapel  was  built  upon  the  estate, 
and  enjoyed  the  distinction  of  being  the  first  Metho- 
dist chapel  in  the  New  World  that  could  boast  a  bell. 

Philip  William  Otterbein,  of  the  German  Reformed 
ministry,  comes  frequently  into  view  in  the  early  his- 
tory of  American  Methodism.  He  was  highly  en- 
dowed, a  man  of  learning  and  exceptional  spirituality. 
His  contact  with  the  Methodists  strengthened  his  natu- 
rally evangelical  convictions,  and  in  his  work  he  con- 
stantly employed  their  methods.  Asbury  came  into 
contact  with  him  during  this  year,  and  the  attraction 
was  mutual.  Through  Asbury 's  influence  Otterbein 
was  settled  with  a  congregation  of  the  Reformed 
Church  in  Baltimore,  and  cooperation  between  the  two 
began  from  that  hour.    The  result  of  Otterbein's  min- 


Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline.  69 

istry  in  Maryland  was  the  Church  of  the  United  Breth- 
ren, an  organization  which  is  usually  classed  with  the 
iMethodists,  and  which  is  so  truly  Methodistic  in  spirit 
and  doctrine  that  the  classification  is  only  logical. 

The  Conference  of  1774,  the  second  to  be  held  in 
America,  met,  as  had  the  first,  in  St.  George's  Church, 
Philadelphia.  Seventeen  preachers  were  present,  and 
it  was  found  that  the  numbers  in  society  had  grown 
to  two  thousand  and  seventy-three,  an  increase  of  near- 
ly one  hundred  per  cent  over  the  previous  year.  As 
has  already  been  shown,  more  than  one-half  of  these 
were  reported  from  Asbury's  circuit  in  Maryland. 

Rankin  and  Asbury  were  seldom  able  to  see  eye  to 
eye.  From  the  first  the  younger  man  indorsed  in 
qualified  terms  the  fitness  of  his  superior.  His  admm- 
istrative  qualities  he  took  on  faith ;  but  a  year  of  ob- 
servation reduced  that  faith  to  the  point  of  evanish- 
ment.  The  journal  of  the  complainant  had,  however, 
been  silent — significantly  so  on  that  point.  Asbury 
was  religiously  honest,  and,  like  the  good  soldier  he 
was,  tried  to  think  well  of  his  General.  In  a  way  he 
succeeded,  and  his  circumstances  aided  him  to  a  degree 
in  maintaining  at  least  a  negative  attitude.  He  was  on 
the  circuit  he  preferred,  amongst  tender-hearted  and 
sympathetic  friends;  he  was  in  a  state  of  constant 
invalidism,  and  came  only  occasionally  into  relations 
with  the  military  General  Assistant. 

The  Conference,  however,  brought  them  together 
and  into  conflict.  Asbury  spoke  his  mind,  and  Rankin 
administered  affairs  with  a  strong  hand,  and  kept  his 
own  counsel.  In  one  thing  these  two  did  undoubtedly 
agree.  The  dilettante  and  time-serving  Wright — as 
they  judged  him  to  be — was  to  be  sent  back  to  En- 


70  Francis  Ashury. 

gland.  Wright  had  been  Asbury's  fellow-missionary 
in  1771,  and  there  is  no  evidence  that  any  personal 
issues  existed  between  them;  but  Asbury,  who  judged 
and  chastened  himself,  was  frank  and  even-handed 
with  others.  So  Richard  Wright  was  demitted  to 
England  under  censure,  implied  if  not  expressed;  but 
there  is  little  doubt  that  both  Asbury  and  Rankin 
judged  him  overhardly. 

Asbury  knew  the  American  field  and  preachers  as 
no  other  man  knew  them ;  Rankin  knew  them  scarcely 
at  all.  Asbury,  in  addition  to  being  naturally  a  far 
more  resourceful  leader  than  the  General  Assistant, 
knew  how  the  preachers  should  be  stationed ;  Rankin 
reasoned  how  it  should  be  done.  The  widest  differ- 
ence of  those  two  minds  was  as  to  wdiere  Asbury  him- 
self should  be  appointed.  The  last  place  which  Asbury 
would  have  chosen  was  the  one  to  which  Rankin  ap- 
pointed him.  That  place  was  New  York.  There  was 
a  momicnt  of  revolt,  and  Asbury  contemplated  an  im- 
mediate return  to  England;  but  the  soldier  in  him 
quickly  triumphed,  and  he  acquiesced  and  joined  in 
the  general  harmony.  The  breach  between  him  and 
Rankin,  however,  became  permanent  from  this  mo- 
ment. 

Besides  holding  in  view  Asbury's  belief  that  he  was 
contending  with  Rankin  for  a  policy  essential  to  Meth- 
odism, it  must  be  remembered  that  at  this  time  he  w^as 
little  better  than  a  physical  wreck — fever-wasted,  nerv- 
ous, and  temperamentally  distressed  by  an  effort  to 
keep  up  in  prolonged  sickness  a  regimen  of  labors  ob- 
viously too  much  for  one  in  health.  About  this  time 
he  wrote: 

"Jtily  14. — I  have  now  been  sick  near  ten  months, 


Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline.  ■  71 

and  many  days  closely  confined ;  yet  I  have  preached 
about  three  hundred  times,  and  rode  near  two  thousand 
miles  in  that  time,  though  very  frequently  in  a  high 
fever.  Here  is  no  ease,  worldly  profit,  or  honor. 
What,  then,  but  the  desire  of  pleasing  God  and  saving 
souls  could  stimulate  to  such  laborious  and  painful 
duties  ?" 

Still  later  this  more  illuminating  entry  appears  in 
his  journal : 

"September  18. — Losing  some  of  my  ideas  in 
preaching,  I  was  ashamed  of  myself,  and  pained  to 
see  the  people  waiting  to  hear  what  the  blunderer  had 
to  say.  I\Iay  these  things  humble  mt,  and  show  mxe 
where  my  strength  lieth  !" 

"Asbury  was  half  peasant  and  half  seraph,'*'  says 
Fitchett,  an  estim.ate  which  is  not  discounted  in  the 
reverent  view  that  m.odern  American  Methodists  have 
taken  of  their  great  forerunner;  but  the  peasant  in 
him  was  only  human — however  far  off  the  affinity  of 
the  seraphic — and  the  revelation  of  that  human  like- 
ness makes  his  example  all  the  more  valuable  to  his 
spiritual  offspring. 

New  York,  though  one  of  the  two  earliest  fields  of 
Methodism  in  the  New  World,  had  proven  to  be  one 
of  the  least  fruitful.  It  had  been  Asbury's  first  Amer- 
ican charge,  and  there  he  had  had  his  most  harassing 
experiences.  There  he  had  contended  for  discipline 
and  "old  Methodism,"  and  had  withstood,  and  been 
withstood  by,  v;orldly-minded  saints.  He  was,  how- 
ever, on  his  return  to  a  second  incumbency,  received 
with  love  and  many  tokens  of  appreciation,  though 
he  was  made  to  realize  that  the  roots  of  the  old  re- 
sentment had  not  been  eradicated. 


'J2  Francis  Asbitry. 

He  was  to  remain  in  New  York  three  months;  but 
his  health  continued  so  poor,  and  the  prospect  of  his 
recovery  seemed  so  remote,  that  his  friends  and  the  of- 
ficials of  the  charge  persuaded  Mr.  Rankin  to  extend 
the  time  indefinitel}',  lest  a  return  to  the  malarious  re- 
gions northward  or  westward  might  increase  his  dis- 
tress. His  three  months'  term  was,  therefore,  extended 
to  one  of  eight  months.  Credited  to  most  other  men,  the 
itinerating  and  evangelizing  done  during  these  eight 
months  would  seem  a  miracle;  but  by  him  they  were 
esteemed  as  barely  worthy  of  being  noted  in  his 
journal. 

Maryland  was  the  magnet  of  his  heart  during  this 
season  of  distress  and  submission.  There  his  friends 
were,  and  there  he  longed  to  be.  Macedonian  hands 
beckoned  to  him  from  the  shore  of  every  frith  and 
bay.  Importuning  messages  invited  him  to  return, 
and  that  without  delay.  Influential  people  even  of- 
fered to  come  and  conduct  him  thither,  in  spite  of 
discipline,  if  only  he  said  the  word;  for  the  spirit  of 
Strawbridge  was  abroad  in  the  land. 

At  the  end  of  the  eight  months  Mr.  Rankin  request- 
ed him  to  proceed  to  Philadelphia.  This  he  did,  and 
rem.ained  in  charge  of  that  important  post  for  three 
months — that  is  to  say,  from  December  2,  1774,  to 
February  22,  1775.  At  the  end  of  that  time  he  set 
out  for  Baltimore,  possibly  with  the  nominal  consent 
of  Rankin ;  but  in  reality,  it  would  appear,  as  the  re- 
sult of  his  own  choice  and  insistency.  His  stay  in 
Baltimore  at  this  time  covered  about  sixty  days;  but 
he  was  much  of  the  time  inactive.  Perhaps  he  was 
restrained  by  friends  who  saw  his  need  of  rest.  His 
journal,  however,  shows  that  he  held  not  a  few  meet- 


Under  the  Stress  of  Discipline.  y"^ 

ings,  that  some  of  them  were  ^ttended  with  signal  man- 
ifestations of  spiritual  power,  and  that  they  were  fruit- 
ful of  results.  His  mind  was  at  rest,  and  he  was  con- 
stantly refreshed  with  the  fellowship  of  his  friend 
Otterbein  and  with  visits  to  "Perry  Hall." 

But  even  amid  these  agreeable  surroundings  there 
are  evidences  that  the  misunderstanding  with  Rankin 
was  unreconciled.  Before  his  departure  from  Phila- 
delphia letters  had  gone  from  both  his  own  and  Ran- 
kin's hands  to  Mr.  Wesley,  though  Asbury  had  been 
frank  enough  to  read  to  his  superior  the  statements 
and  complaints  which  he  was  sending  to  England.  A 
diplomatic  silence  obtained,  and  the  Conference  ses- 
sion was  near  at  hand.  Mr.  Wesley  would,  no  doubt, 
the  next  year  have  recalled  Asbury  to  be  near  himself, 
or  appointed  him  to  service  in  the  Bahamas ;  but  a 
tragical  and  unforeseen  providence  prevented  the  re- 
moval from  the  New  World  of  its  destined  apostle. 
The  American  Revolution  was  already  a  fact,  and  in- 
tercourse between  the  Mother  Country  and  the  Colo- 
nies was  practically  at  an  end. 


CHAPTER    VII. 
Faith  against  Swords. 

The  Conference  of  1775  met,  as  had  those  of  the 
two  previous  years,  in  St.  George's  Church,  Philadel- 
phia. The  day  of  opening — May  17 — fell  exactly  one 
week  later  than  the  date  of  the  opening  of  the  second 
Continental  Congress,  which  had  convened  in  Liberty 
Hall.  It  is  not  likely  that  the  patriots  who  sat  in  that 
first  Capitol  of  the  nation  knew  of  the  presence  of  a 
handful  of  lay  preachers  in  conference  so  near  their 
own  chamber.  The  thoughts  of  the  publicists  were 
concerned  with  stamp  acts,  taxation,  the  rights  of 
the  Colonies,  and  the  limitations  of  the  royal  govern- 
ment. War  had  not  been  declared  against  the  mother 
country;  but  hostilities  had  already  begun,  the  battle 
of  Lexington  having  occurred  in  the  preceding  April. 
The  land  was  filled  with  rumors  of  the  coming  strife, 
and  the  minds  of  the  people  were  heavy  with  appre- 
hensions. 

The  first  war  note  found  in  Asbury's  journal  is  in 
an  entry  made  on  April  30,  1775,  twenty  days  before 
the  meeting  of  the  Conference.  In  this  entry  he  says : 
"We  have  alarming  military  accounts  from  Boston, 
New  York,  and  Philadelphia.  Surely  the  Lord  will 
overrule,  and  make  these  things  subservient  to  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  the  Church."  There  were  then 
no  steam  mail  lines,  no  daily  papers,  no  telegraphs,  nor 
telephones.  The  news  traveled  slowly,  and  multiplied 
itself  at  each  stage  of  advance.  Boston  Harbor  and 
the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill  were  then  the  scenes  of  mili- 

(74) 


Faith  against  Swords.  75 

tary  activity.  But  Boston  was  a  long  way  from  the 
center  of  the  Methodist  world.  Northern  New  Jersey, 
or  perhaps  Southern  Connecticut,  was  at  this  time  the 
farthest  northward  range  of  any  of  the  itinerants. 
Amid  the  cry  of  tidings,  some  true,  some  exaggerated, 
''the  preachers  in  connection  with  the  Reverend  John 
Wesley,"  many  of  whom  were  loyal  British  subjects, 
had  ridden  to  their  gathering  in  the  city  soon  to  be- 
come the  birthplace  of  American  liberty.  The  condi- 
tions were  depressing  to  all,  but  to  none  more  than  to 
Rankin,  who  in  his  journal  notes  the  effect  upon  the 
Conference. 

But  one,  at  least,  of  the  British  brethren  was  calm 
and  undisturbed,  vv^hatever  the  prophecy  conveyed  to 
him  by  the  disjointed  times.  That  was  Francis  As- 
bury,  v/ho  from  the  first  seem.s  to  have  made  up  his 
mind  to  stay  with  the  Americans  and  share  their  fate. 
In  all  the  entries  in  his  journal  which  touch  upon  the 
war,  he  did  not  once  betray  a  partisan  spirit.  Whether 
in  England  or  in  America,  he  had  but  one  fealty,  and 
that  was  to  the  kingdom  of  heaven.  There,  however, 
came  a  time  when  he  felt,  and  could  express,  pride  in 
being  a  citizen  of  the  republic. 

At  the  Conference  a  day  of  prayer  and  fasting  was 
appointed  for  the  prosperity  of  the  v/ork  and  for  the 
peace  of  America.  The  year  then  closing  had  wit- 
nessed a  great  ingathering.  Three  thousand  one  hun- 
dred and  forty-eight  members  in  society  were  reported, 
:uid  nineteen  preachers  were  given  appointments.  As- 
bury  was  appointed  to  labor  in  Norfolk,  Va.  There 
v/ere  no  signs  of  a  renewal  of  the  conflict  of  judg- 
ment between  him  and  Rankin.  Impressed,  as  they 
no  doubt  were,  with  the  gravity  of  the  experience 


yd  Francis  Asbitry. 

through  which  the  infant  Church  was  clearly  fore- 
doomed to  pass,  they  laid  aside  their  differences  and 
w^orked  together  in  a  spirit  of  concession.  It  is  prob- 
able, too,  that  the  appointments  were  made  after  a 
very  full  discussion  in  open  conference  of  the  effect 
upon  the  work  of  the  existing  and  threatened  condi- 
tion of  public  affairs.  Rankin  says  in  his  journal: 
''We  conversed  together,  and  concluded  our  business 
in  love.  We  wanted  all  the  light  and  advice  Vv^e  could 
obtain  respecting  our  conduct  in  the  present  critical 
situation  of  aft-airs." 

The  strained  relations  between  Asbury  and  Rankin 
ended  with  this  Conference,  and  there  seems  to  have 
been  much  confidence  and  a  real  w^armth  of  brotherly 
feeling  between  them  from  this  time  to  the  end  of 
Rankin's  stay  in  the  countr)^  No  doubt  Rankin  came 
to  a  more  correct  appraisement  of  Asbury's  ability, 
and  Asbury,  in  turn,  found  that  his  superior  was  nei- 
ther so  obdurate  nor  so  overbearing  as  he  had  at  first 
suspected.  It  is  the  old  story  of  human  limitations 
within  which  the  acts  of  even  holy  apostles  have  some- 
times been  found  blameworthy. 

Methodism  w^as  introduced  into  Norfolk  and  Ports- 
mouth in  1772  by  Robert  Williams,  an  irregular  Wes- 
leyan  preacher  who  preceded  Boardman  and  Pilmoor 
to  America  by  some  months.  He  was  one  of  the  most 
interesting  characters  of  the  early  Methodist  era — zeal- 
ous, impetuous,  passionately  religious,  and  rudely  elo- 
quent. His  prophecy  was  burdened  with  a  cry  against 
the  worldliness  of  the  priests  of  the  Established 
Church.  He  was  an  anti-hierarchical  zealot,  a  repub- 
lican, and  the  embodiment  of  gospel  self-abnegation. 
And  yet  he  was  an  enigma  to  the  world  and  to  his 


Faith  against  Sijjords.  77 

brethren.  Ignorant  of  how  to  submit  to  discipline, 
he  labored  with  marvelous  results ;  utterly  dead  to  the 
world,  he  yet  understood  beyond  all  the  men  of  his 
fellowship  how  to  use  the  world  as  not  abusing  it. 
He  printed  books,  and  sold  them  while  sweeping 
around  his  wilderness  circuits,  and  toward  the  end 
of  his  remarkable  career  he  married,  and  left  at  his 
death  an  estate  considerable  enough  to  be  administered 
upon.  He  was,  as  the  history  of  the  early  itinerants 
goes,  the  first  of  the  preachers  to  print  a  book,  the 
first  to  marry,  and  the  first  to  die.  The  supreme  dis- 
tinction of  his  life,  however,  is  that  of  being  the 
spiritual  father  of  Jesse  Lee,  the  apostle  of  Methodism 
to  New  England. 

For  a  preaching  place  in  Portsmouth  Williams  had 
secured  a  vacant  store,  and  for  a  chapel  in  Norfolk 
an  abandoned  playhouse.  He  had  also  gathered  a 
small  society;  but  the  population  w^as  obdurate,  and 
no  extraordinary  headway  had  been  made  previous  to 
the  time  of  Asbury's  coming, 

From  the  miracles  that  had  attended  his  ministry 
at  Baltimore,  at  the  Point,  and  amongst  the  planta- 
tions in  Maryland,  Asbury  found  himself  transferred 
to  conditions  upon  which  even  the  fiery  zeal  of  Wil- 
liams had  but  feebly  told.  But  he  was  nearing  his 
thirtieth  year,  and  to  a  rich  experience  was  adding  the 
judgment  and  mastery  of  maturity.  To  his  difficult 
task  he  addressed  himself  with  purpose. 

The  handful  of  members  which  he  found  in  society 
were  soon  reduced  a  half  by  the  application  of  disci- 
pline for  which  he  always  stood.  This  done,  he  be- 
gan a  characteristic  move  upon  the  adjacent  coasts 
and  the  wide  region  westward  and  northward  of  the 


yS  Francis  Ashnry. 

twin  ports.  His  circuit  covered  the  country  lying  be- 
tween the  Dismal  Swamp  and  the  great  estuary,  and 
as  far  northward  as  he  had  time  and  strength  to  ride. 
What  had  been  difficult  to  Williams  under  happier 
conditions  became  all  but  impossible  to  Asbury,  w^ith 
the  fever  of  war  consuming  the  souls  of  the  people. 
Politics  and  unbelief  when  mingled  make  a  refractory 
composition.  But  the  man  of  faith,  hungering  for 
holiness  and  peace  and  for  human  souls,  went  on  with 
his  work.  Like  a  true  captain,  when  the  oppositions 
seemed  strongest,  he  ordered  an  advance.  A  sub- 
scription for  the  building  of  a  chapel  was  set  on  foot ; 
but  the  utmost  that  could  be  secured  was  £34.  How 
faint  a  prophecy  that  of  the  modern  Alethodist  Nor- 
folk, with  its  many  and  costly  churches ! 

About  midsummer  of  this  year,  Thomas  Rankin 
for  himself  and  others  of  the  English  preachers  noti- 
fied Asbury  that  on  account  of  the  growing  enmity  to 
loyal  British  subjects  in  the  revolted  provinces  he 
judged  it  best  for  them  to  return  at  an  early  day  to 
England.  To  this  communication  Asbury  returned  a 
prompt  and  vigorous  answer  to  the  effect  that,  what- 
ever Rankin  and  others  chose  to  do,  he  himself  was 
determined  to  remain  with  the  flock  in  America.  This 
courageous  stand  of  the  former  General  Assistant 
caused  Rankin  to  change  his  mind  for  the  time.  His 
departure  from  the  continent  was  thus  postponed  for 
two  years. 

A  notable  revival  had  been  in  progress  in  Virginia 
prior  to  1775.  It  had  begun  under  the  ministry  of 
the  Rev.  Devereux  Jarratt,  a  priest  of  the  Established 
Church,  who  had  affiliated  with  the  Methodists  and 
used  their  methods,  even  organizing  societies  for  the 


Faith  against  Swords.  79 

training  of  converts.  In  1773  Robert  Williams  jonied 
himself  to  Jarratt,  and  the  revival  took  on  extraordi- 
nary proportions.  Then  came  George  Shadford, 
whom  Wesley  had  sent  to  America  with  the  commis- 
sion to  "publish  his  message  in  the  face  of  the  sun," 
and  the  pentecostal  circle  widened  from  district  to 
district,  and  from  county  to  county.  Nothing  like 
it  had  been  seen  in  America  before,  and  it  was  this 
awakening  in  Virginia  which  accounts  for  the  extraor- 
dinary growth  of  the  Methodist  societies  between  1775 
and  1777.  In  fact,  the  impetus  of  it  was  felt  in  Metho- 
dism for  half  a  hundred  years  later. 

The  Brunswick  Circuit  Vv^as  the  center  of  this  note- 
v/orthy  movement,  and  George  Shadford  was  assistant 
in  charge.  In  October,  provided  with  a  chaise,  Asbury 
said  farewell  to  Norfolk,  and  drove  southward  to 
Brunswick  to  join  Shadford.  Whether  he  went  by 
appointment  of  Rankin  or  by  invitation  of  Shadford 
does  not  appear.  Bishop  ]\IcTyeire  describes  his  ab- 
sence as  a  '"vacation."  If  so,  it  v/as  a  vacation  from 
which  he  never  returned.  The  state  of  war  had  great- 
ly interfered  with  an  orderly  administration  of  Con- 
ference affairs.  Many  of  the  preachers  were  under 
the  necessity  of  becoming  a  law  to  themselves.  This 
was  particularly  true  of  those  itinerants  in  the  coast 
cities  exposed  to  invasion  or  bombardment.  British 
marines  had  already  landed  at  Norfolk,  and  soon  after 
Asbury 's  departure  the  city  was  burned  by  order  of 
the  Tory  governor  of  Virginia.  Asbury  had  no  im- 
mediate successor,  and  the  circuit  does  not  again  ap- 
pear in  the  list  of  appointments  until  1777. 

During  the  four  succeeding  months  Asbury  was 
within  tlie  revival  circle  in  the  interior.     It  was  re- 


8o  Francis  Asbury. 

mote  from  the  scenes  of  incipient  war;  the  land  was 
populous,  the  work  of  God  was  prospering  as  he  de- 
sired it  should  in  every  place,  and  the  soul  of  the 
visiting  itinerant  went  out  in  a  glow.  He  rode  from 
revival  to  revival.  At  a  certain  quarterly  meeting 
where  he  preached  seven  hundred  people  were  reck- 
oned to  be  present.  This  meeting  licensed  three 
preachers,  who  afterwards  became  distinguished  in  the 
history  of  Alethodism.  i  They  were  Francis  Poythress, 
James  Foster,  and  Joseph  Hartley.' 

Some  time  after  this  Asbury  visited  the  Rev.  j\Ir. 
Jarratt,  the  evangelical  Anglican  who  had  been  so 
largely  instrumental  in  promoting  the  Mrginia  re- 
vival. The  two  held  several  meetings  together,  and 
for  years  afterwards  they  were  united  in  the  closest 
bonds  of  friendship  and  confidence.  Some  time  later, 
when  the  societies  and  preachers  were  without  proper 
superintendency  on  account  of  the  long  continuance 
of  the  war,  they  were  by  action  of  Conference  recom- 
mended to  seek  advice  of  this  godly  and  evangelical 
priest.  Several  of  the  early  Methodist  historians  refer 
to  him  as  ''the  American  Fletcher,"  and  the  designation, 
in  view  of  his  spirit  and  zeal,  is  not  inapt. 

About  this  time  a  letter  came  from  Rankin  direct- 
ing Asbury  to  repair  to  Philadelphia,  and  again  as- 
sume charge  of  the  societies  in  that  war-troubled  cen- 
ter. After  giving  some  time  to  administering  upon 
the  will  of  his  lately  deceased  fellow-itinerant,  Robert 
Williams,  he  set  off  for  Philadelphia  by  the  way  of 
Baltimore.  For  the  next  few  months  his  journal  con- 
stantly records  rumors  of  an  impending  conflict.  A 
great  army  was  expected  to  arrive  from  England  in 
the  spring,  and  feverish  preparation  was  being  made 


Faith  against  Swords.  8 1 

by  the  colonies  to  resist.  No  conjecture  could  be 
risked  as  to  where  the  chief  attack  would  be  delivered, 
and  so  every  exposed  community  suffered  from  dis- 
turbing and  distressing  apprehensions. 

To  add  to  the  distress  of  the  work  and  the  embar- 
rassment of  the  preachers,  Mr.  Wesley's  ill-advised 
"Calm  Address  to  the  American  Colonies"  had  made 
its  appearance.  The  immediate  effect  was  to  put  the 
whole  body  of  Methodists  under  the  suspicion  of  dis- 
loyalty, and  raise  against  the  preachers,  English  and 
native,  the  cry  of  "Tory."  The  copies  of  the  address 
sent  to  Rankin  vvcre  summarily  burned ;  but  the  in- 
terested Tory  government  found  a  way  to  smuggle 
others  in.  The  confusion  wrought  by  this  pamphlet 
cannot  be  appreciated  at  this  distance.  Rankin  read 
the  logic  of  it,  and  at  the  Conference  held  that  year 
left  himself  without  an  appointment,  that  he  might 
be  able  to  go  generally  over  the  field  to  allay  suspicion 
and  preach  down  resentment,  or,  if  so  extreme  a  need 
should  arise,  that  he  might  be  free  to  leave  the  country 
at  a  moment's  notice. 

The  Conference  met  in  Baltimore,  in  the  newly 
opened  Lovely  Lane  Chapel,  on  the  21st  day  of  May, 
six  weeks  before  the  signing  of  the  Declaration  of  In- 
dependence, Asbury  \vd.s  not  at  the  Conference,  hav- 
ing been  seized  on  his  way  thither  with  a  severe  ill- 
ness, a  recrudescence  of  former  malarial  poisonings. 
Feeble  but  not  despondent,  he  made  his  way  back  to 
Philadelphia,  and  awaited  the  return  of  his  northern 
bound  brethren  to  bring  him  news  from  the  Confer- 
ence. 

Within  a  fraction  of  five  thousand  members  were 
reported  in  society,  and  twenty-four  preachers  received 
6 


82  Francis  Asbury. 

appointments.  Amongst  the  names  of  those  admitted 
on  trial  into  the  traveUng  connection  appears  that  of 
Freeborn  Garrettsqn,  the  avant-courier  of  early  Metho- 
dism. Varied  were  the  types  of  gifts,  zeal,  and  hero- 
ism in  the  company  of  the  itinerants  that  led  the  Wes- 
leyan  movement  in  North  America;  but  of  that  im- 
mortal guard  no  name  retains  a  surer  luster  nor  begets 
a  more  certain  inspiration  than  that  of  Freeborn  Gar- 
rettson. 

As  in  the  previous  year,  the  Conference  finished  its 
proceedings  with  a  resolution  appointing  a  day  of 
fasting  and  prayer  for  the  peace  of  America.  In  his 
sick  chamber  at  Philadelphia,  Asbury  received  the  in- 
formation that  he  had  been  appointed  assistant  in 
charge  of  the  Baltimore  work.  This  was  his  fourth 
assignment  to  that  circuit.  Beyond  a  doubt,  the  news 
was  a  solace  to  him.  Weak  and  wasted  with  long 
and  frequent  sicknesses,  he  rode  southward  to  that 
haven  of  rest  and  earthly  happiness,  ''Perry  Hall,'' 
where  his  friends,  the  Coughs,  received  him  with  ten- 
der affection  and  attended  him  with  tireless  minis- 
tries. 

In  returning  to  Maryland,  he  naturally  felt  that  he 
was  returning  to  his  own ;  but  a  foretaste  of  the  sore 
experience  he  was  to  pass  through  during  the  next 
few  years  awaited  him.  The  new  political  order  was 
asserting  itself  vigorously.  Asbury  had  failed  to  take 
out  a  civil  license  as  a  preacher.  For  this  neglect — 
perhaps  he  was  wholly  ignorant  of  the  necessity  of 
such  license — he  was  arrested  and  fined  ten  pounds. 
The  rule,  an  old  and  inoperative  one,  had  been  re- 
vived with  a  view  to  limiting  the  loyalist  propensities 
of  the  priests  of  the  State  Church.     The   fact  that 


Faith  against  Szvords.  83 

Asbury  was  an  Englishman  suggested  to  the  colonial 
police  the  desirability  of  putting  him  under  the  rule. 

After  about  three  weeks  of  active  work  in  Mary- 
land, during  which  time  he  was  more  than  once  ex- 
posed to  drenching  rains,  a  malignant  sore  throat,  the 
result  of  malarial  poisoning  long  uncorrected,  pros- 
trated him,  and  brought  him  near  to  death.  It  was 
now  decided  by  his  friends,  the  Goughs  and  Dallams, 
that  he  must  take  a  vacation — strange  sound  to  him ! — 
and  go  to  the  Warm  Sulphur  Springs  in  Virginia  for 
his  health,  even  for  the  saving  of  his  life.  It  was  mid- 
summer, and  the  Goughs  and  Dallams  were  soon  to  go 
thither  on  their  annual  outing.  Having  made  provi- 
sion to  supply  his  circuit,  Asbury  set  forth  with  his 
friends  on  the  journey  to  the  Springs.  "That  no  op- 
portunity might  be  lost,"  sick  and  shattered  in  frame 
though  he  was,  he  "ventured  to  preach"  twice  in  Balti- 
more, and  at  night  in  the  tavern  at  which  he  stopped 
the  second  day  out.  A  great  company  was  found  at 
the  Springs — a  field  white  unto  harvest,  as  he  fondly 
hoped — and  so  he  arranged  a  meeting  each  evening  for 
preaching  and  exhortation  in  the  cottage  of  Mr. 
Gough,  or  in  some  others  that  he  found  open.  In 
addition  to  this,  he  preached  three  times  each  week 
and  once  on  the  Sabbath  in  the  open  air.  At  this 
time  also  his  daily  reading  did  not  fall  short  of  the 
accustomed  one  hundred  pages.  A  task  this  for  an 
invalid!  And  yet  to  him  it  was  rest,  soul-restoring 
rest.  Moreover,  his  health  improved  steadily;  nor 
was  he  without  a  variety  of  instructive  and  edifying 
experiences  outside  of  his  routine.  He  met  not  a  few 
of  such  people  as  are  usually  attracted  to  such  a  re- 
sort— people  of  means,  leisure,  and  intelligence  of  a 


84  Francis  Asbury. 

sort,  but  possessed  of  freakish  religious  notions.  He 
describes  with  some  severity  two  spiritless  sermons 
which  he  heard,  and  a  conversation  which  he  had  with 
an  antinomian.  Serious  man  that  he  was,  he  had  a 
keen  sense  of  the  ridiculous^  and  was  quick  to  detect 
a  sham ;  nor  was  he  slow  to  expose  it — at  least  in  his 
journal. 

After  six  weeks  of  active  resting  at  the  Springs, 
with  reinvigorated  blood  and  fiber,  he  was  back  in 
Maryland,  preaching  to  great  crowds  at  many  of  the 
rural  stations,  and  witnessing  a  general  ingathering 
of  converts.  The  results  of  the  year  for  all  Maryland 
were,  in  round  numbers,  little  short  of  one  thousand 
additions  to  the  members  in  society.  Constant  tidings 
of  the  continued  revival  in  Virginia  also  cheered  him 
and  his  fellow-workers.  The  evangelism  of  the  period 
was  contagious:  a  wave  of  spiritual  power  seemed 
to  be  steadily  rising  in  the  two  Colonies.  With  these 
tokens  about  him,  and  with  constant  access  to  his 
confiding  and  helpful  friend  Otterbein,  there  was 
now  but  one  thing  to  give  Asbury  heaviness,  and  that 
was  the  ever  deepening  cloud  of  war  that  hung  about 
the  land. 

Near  the  end  of  February,  leaving  Joseph  Hartley 
in  charge  of  the  Baltimore  stations,  he  rode  through 
blinding  snows  to  open  a  new  work  in  Annapolis,  the 
capital.  The  new  State  assembly  was  in  session, 
flushed  with  the  pride  of  recently  declared  independ- 
ence, and  confident  in  the  thought  of  nationality.  The 
town  was  notoriously  irreligious,  being  a  hotbed  of 
typical  eighteenth  century  deism.  The  young  itiner- 
ant aimed  at  nothing  short  of  the  evangelization  of 
this  place.     It  was  a  Herculean  undertaking;  but  it 


Faith  against  Swords.  85 

was  a  spiritual  Hercules  who  undertook  it.  Eventual- 
ly not  a  few  of  the  members  of  the  assembly  attended 
upon  his  ministry.  By  the  middle  of  spring  a  pro- 
nounced impression  had  been  made  upon  the  whole 
body  of  the  people.  When  he  delivered  his  last  ser- 
mon preparatory  to  reporting  to  the  Conference,  a 
notable  congregation  waited  upon  his  message  and 
importuned  him  to  return. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 
A  Mastery  of  Spirits. 

We  now  come  to  sketch  the  history  of  a  series  of 
events  that  tested  Asbury's  spirit  and  brought  out  his 
powers  of  mastery  and  leadership.  But  for  the  dis- 
tinct and  crucial  situation  created  by  these  events,  it 
is  doubtful  if  the  providential  mission  of  Asbury  to 
the  New  World  could  have  been  so  completely  and 
effectively  realized  as  it  was. 

The  Conference  of  1777  met  in  a  country  chapel 
at  Deer  Creek,  in  Harford  County,  Maryland,  on  the 
twentieth  day  of  May.  Asbury  and  certain  other 
members  of  the  Conference  held  an  unofficial  prelim- 
inary meeting  at  'Terry  Hall,"  the  home  of  the 
Coughs,  at  which  the  stationing  of  the  preachers  and 
other  matters  were  discussed.  Two  important  depar- 
tures were  proposed.  One  was  a  plan  to  have  Rankin 
administer  the  ordinances;  but  this  was  summarily 
voted  down.  Another  was  that,  in  view  of  the  almost 
certain  early  departure  of  Rankin,  and  possibly  of  the 
other  English  preachers,  ia  committee  of  American 
preachers  should  be  appointed  to  superintend  the  soci- 
eties when  it  should  happen  that  no  General  Assistant 
was  on  the  ground. j  This  was  favorably  considered, 
and  the  committee  w^as  regularly  appointed  by  the 
Conference.  No  account  of  this  action  appears  in  the 
printed  mjnutes  of  the  3'ear;  but  a  contemporaneous 
document  supplies  the  record,  and  also  gives  the  names 
of  the  members  of  the  committee.  They  were:  Wil- 
(86) 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  87 

Ham  Walters,  Philip  Gatch,  Daniel  Ruff,  Edward 
Dromgoole,  and  William  Glendenning. 

Thomas  Rankin  was  present,  and  presided;  though 
he  announced  that  both  he  and  the  other  English 
brethren  would  soon  take  their  departure  for  the 
mother  country.  For  their  use  and  protection  certifi- 
cates of  character  were  issued  by  the  Conference. 
But  this  did  not  include  the  name  of  Asbury,  for  he 
had  already  announced  his  purpose  to  remain  with 
the  Americans.  Nevertheless,  his  recall  by  Wesley 
had  not  been  revoked,  and  it  was  foreseen  that  the 
order  to  return  might  be  renewed  at  any  time. 

The  American  brethren  urged  that  those  English 
preachers  who  had  been  demitted  should  remain  to 
the  last  moment.  Accordingly  George  Shadford  and 
Martin  Rodda  were  given  appointments,  the  one  in 
Maryland  and  the  other  in  Delaware.  Rankin,  as  in 
the  two  previous  years,  gave  himself  no  assignment; 
neither  does  the  name  of  Asbury  appear  in  the  sta- 
tion list.  However,  immediately  after  the  Confer- 
ence he  rode  to  Annapolis,  and  took  up  the  v/ork  which 
he  had  left  but  a  few  weeks  before,  and  which  had 
become  a  part  of  the  Baltimore  Circuit. 

The  absence  of  Asbury's  name  from  the  list  of  ap- 
pointments for  this  year  has  been  a  puzzle  to  the  his- 
torians ;  but  tO'  me  the  explanation  is  on  the  face  of 
things.  Rankin,  expecting  to  leave  the  country  at  any 
time,  arranged  with  Asbury,  with  whom  he  had  come 
to  an  understanding,  to  take  up  the  superintendency 
of  the  societies  the  moment  he  should  depart.  This 
only  can  explain  why  Asbury's  name  did  not  head  the 
provisional   committee.      So   long  as   Asbury   should 


SS  Francis  Ashiiry. 

be  on  the  ground  the  commission  plan  was  inoperative. 
Proof  of  this  will  appear  later. 

The  line  of  travel  which  Asbury  laid  out  for  him- 
self indicates  that  he  had  already  been  admitted  by 
Rankin  to  a  joint  superintendency,  which  was  to  be- 
come complete  the  moment  Rankin  took  ship.  This 
will  also  explain  the  frequent  meetings  of  Asbury  and 
Rankin  during  the  remaining  weeks  of  the  latter's 
stay.  It  seems^  too,  that  in  August  Asbury  insisted 
on  Rankin's  taking  a  three  months'  service  in  Balti- 
more. This  suggestion  could  not  have  been  made  with 
any  degree  of  seemliness  unless  some  understanding 
had  been  on  between  them.  Rankin  had  his  reasons 
for  declining  to  go  to  Baltimore ;  but  they  were  not  a 
denial  of  the  right  of  Asbury  to  suggest  the  appoint- 
ment. Within  a  month  Rankin  was  on  the  high  seas 
bound  for  England. 

Asbury  now  manifested  the  sign  of  a  General  Assist- 
ant by  widening  his  circuit.  In  a  little  while  it  in- 
cluded the  greater  part  of  Maryland,  and  he  was  on 
the  point  of  extending  his  oversight  to  other  parts  of 
the  field  when  he  learned  that  George  Shadford,  the 
last  of  the  English  preachers  besides  himself,  had  em- 
barked for  Europe.  This  left  the  Baltimore  Circuit 
in  a  state  of  crying  need.  There  was  no  course  open 
to  Asbury  but  to  remain  in  Maryland  and  supply  the 
lack.  This  he  was  proceeding  to  do  when  the  Mary- 
land officers  informed  him  that  he  must  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  new  State  government.  The  pun- 
ishment for  failure  to  do  so  was  extradition  or  im- 
prisonment, Maryland  did  not  accept  the  Articles  of 
Federation  until  1781  ;  but  from  the  first  she  demanded 
a  strict  loyalty  from  those  within  her  borders.     As- 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  89 

bury  declined  to  naturalize.  As  a  loyal  Englishman, 
he  could  not,  and  as  a  minister  his  conscience  was 
against  the  oath.  As  a  means  of  personal  safety,  he 
repaired  to  the  State  of  Delaware,  where  no  such  oath 
was  required,  and  where  he  hoped  to  live  in  peace  as  a 
nonjuror.  In  this  he  was  mistaken,  and  of  course  his 
work  as  General  Assistant  was  over  until  conditions 
changed. 

In  Delaware  he  found  an  asylum  in  the  hospitable 
home  of  Judge  White,  of  the  Kent  County  Court  of 
Common  Pleas,  who,  though  a  High-churchman,  had 
long  been  a  friend  and  admirer  of  the  faithful  evan- 
gelist. The  White  home  came  to  be  to  him  a  place 
only  second  in  his  affections  to  ''Perry  Hall."  Here 
he  was  in  practical  exile  for  many  months,  though 
he  managed  to  sally  forth  and  preach  in  a  nine  days' 
circuit  about  the  castle  of  his  protector.  He  also  held 
frequent  meetings  in  the  barn  on  the  White  estate, 
and  it  was  in  this  same  barn  that  he  organized  the 
movement  which  no  doubt  changed  the  whole  history 
of  early  American  Methodism,  and  marked  him  as  a 
man  of  marvelous  foresight  and  leadership,  such  lead- 
ership, however,  as  answers  to  no  rule  in  books  of 
military  tactics  and  contradicts  every  precedent  de- 
veloped in  the  stories  of  the  mighty.  This  man  who 
walked  by  faith  led  his  fellows  captive  by  the  same 
rule. 

Although  he  finally  escaped  bodily  harm,  or  arrest, 
he  suffered  not  a  few  persecutions,  and  was  often  in 
imminent  danger  from  those  who  counted  him  an  en- 
emy of  their  country.  He  saw  his  noble  host  arrested 
and  dragged  away  to  prison,  perhaps  for  his  sake,  and 
he  was  himself  compelled  to  hide  for  a  considerable 


90  Francis  Asbury. 

time  in  a  neighboring  swamp  to  escape  the  hands  of 
those  who  meant  him  evil. 

Others  of  the  itinerants  were  not  so  fortunate.  Sev- 
eral were  imprisoned  at  Annapolis  by  the  Maryland 
police.  Hartley  was  beaten  and  cast  into  a  dungeon. 
Freeborn  Garrettson  v/as  not  only  confined  in  jail, 
but  was  assaulted  by  a  petty  ex- judge  and  felled  from 
his  horse.  Peddicord  was  brutally  assaulted,  and  re- 
ceived wounds  the  scars  of  which  he  carried  to  his 
grave ;  and  yet  another  member  of  the  Conference  lost 
an  eye  because  of  his  zeal  for  the  Word. 

They  suffered  under  the  false  accusation  of  being 
Tories  and  sympathizers  with  royalty.  This  came  to 
them  because  of  Mr.  Wesley's  unwise  pamphlet  on 
the  stamp  act  and  the  war.  But  notwithstanding  all 
they  suffered,  not  one  was  silenced  or  forgot  that  he 
served  the  Lord  Christ. 

The  test  of  Methodism  was  now  at  hand.  The  Con- 
ference of  1778  met  in  Leesburg,  Va.  Of  course  As- 
bury did  not  preside.  He  could  not  even  be  present, 
it  being  impossible  for  him  to  cross  the  territory  of 
Maryland,  and  indeed  dangerous  for  him  to  venture 
far  from  the  home  of  his  protector. 

William  Watters,  the  first  named  of  the  provisional 
committee  appointed  the  previous  year  and  the  first 
native  Am.erican  admitted  into  the  traveling  connec- 
tion, presided  over  the  deliberations  of  the  Confer- 
ence. Amongst  those  admitted  on  trial  at  Leesburg 
was  James  O'Kelley,  a  m^an  of  whom  we  shall  have 
occasion  to  speak  again  as  this  narrative  progresses. 

At  the  Conference  held  at  Deer  Creek,  the  last  over 
which  Rankin  presided,  it  had  been  resolved  to  lay  the 
whole  matter  of  the  ordinances  "over  for  the  determi- 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  91 

nation  of  the  Conference  to  be  held  at  Leesburg." 
But  still  so  uncertain  were  these  lay  itinerants  of  the 
ground  upon  which  their  issue  was  pitched  that  they 
again  deferred  action  to  the  session  of  the  Conference 
to  be  held  the  succeeding  year  in  Fluvanna  County, 
Virginia.  It  is  more  than  probable  that  this  post- 
ponement was  secured  by  Watters  himself.  His  con- 
servatism nearly  approached  that  of  the  English 
preachers,  and  in  the  succeeding  year  he  allied  himself 
with  Asbury,  and  assisted  in  the  defeat  of  the  sacra- 
mental party. 

The  Leesburg  minutes  make  no  mention  of  Asbury's 
name.  His  enforced  inactivity  put  him  in  the  rank 
of  a  local  preacher.  The  name  of  William  Watters 
leads  the  list  of  assistants,  and  this  made  him  the  de 
facto  head  of  the  societies.  In  consequence  of  the 
war,  the  numbers  in  society  had  fallen  off  nearly  one 
thousand,  and  the  number  of  preachers  had  been  con- 
siderably reduced.  This  was  one  of  the  few  years 
in  the  history  of  American  Methodism  in  which  there 
has  been  recorded  an  actual  loss. 

Though  the  Conference  adjourned,  leaving  the  sac- 
ramental question  where  it  had  rested  for  a  year,  it 
soon  began  to  be  apparent  that  sentiment  upon  the 
subject  was  advancing.  Watters  and  other  conserva- 
tives saw  that  radical  action  would  be  taken  at  the 
Conference  to  be  held  in  1779.  Whether  or  not  they 
communicated  their  fears  to  Asbury  cannot  now  be 
stated  with  certainty.  But  though  remote  from  the 
scene,  and  in  exile,  Asbury  gathered  accurate  informa- 
tion concerning  the  course  of  events,  and  deeply  medi- 
tated a  plan  for  circumventing  what  had  now  passed 
beyond  the  ordinary  means  of  correction. 


9^  Francis  Ashitry. 

In  the  meantime  Asbury  was  not  idle  as  an  itinerant, 
though  without  an  appointment.  Freeborn  Garrettson, 
who  was  assistant  on  the  Delaware  Circuit,  divided 
the  work  with  him,  and  in  all  matters  deferred  to 
him  as  though  he  were  the  superior  by  appointment. 
He  dared  not  go  beyond  the  borders  of  Delaware ;  but 
was  constantly  visited  by  former  comrades,  and  he 
kept  his  eye  on  the  work  from  Pennsylvania  to  Vir- 
ginia. His  influence  and  the  respect  in  which  he  was 
held  were  but  little,  if  any,  diminished  by  his  long 
isolation.  In  fact,  during  this  year  his  ascendency 
over  the  preachers  of  "the  Northern  stations"  became 
complete.  His  sufferings,  his  zeal,  and  the  unexam- 
pled power  of  his  ministry  as  a  "prisoner  of  Jesus 
Christ"  wxre  known  and  testified  to  all  along  the  west- 
ern shore.  In  some  way  it  was  read  by  many  that  to 
him  had  been  committed  the  book  of  the  law  and  the 
leadership  of  the  hosts  to  be.  All  those  preachers 
under  his  immediate  shadow  were  won  away  from  the 
desire  to  break  with  Mr.  Wesley  and  take  up  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacraments.  Those  farther  away 
from  him — namely,  all  those  in  Virginia  which  now 
contained,  with  the  stations  in  North  Carolina,  far 
more  than  half  of  all  the  members  in  society,  as  also 
a  substantial  majority  of  the  preachers — were  deter- 
mined to  follow  the  example  of  Strawbridge  and  ad- 
minister the  ordinances  on  the  ground  that  providence 
had  supplied  the  necessary  grant  of  authority. 

Foreseeing  the  course  of  the  preachers  in  the  South, 
Asbury  called  a  Conference  of  those  itinerants  sta- 
tioned north  of  the  Virginia  line.  He  had  seen  the 
advantage  of  a  bef ore-Conference  caucus  in  1777,  and 
he  no  doubt  at  first  meant  that  this  meeting  should  be 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  93 

nothing  more  than  such.  But,  Hke  Mr.  Wesley,  when 
he  found  that  one  wise  step  logically  called  for  another, 
that  other  was  taken  without  hesitancy.  The  plan  for 
a  caucus  matured  into  a  call  for  a  Conference.  The 
session  was  held  in  the  barn  on  the  Judge  White  es- 
tate, in  Kent  County,  Delaware,  April  28,  1777,  exactly 
three  weeks  before  the  date  appointed  for  the  meeting 
of  the  regular  Conference  in  Fluvanna  County,  Vir- 
ginia. 

Several  reasons  have  been  assigned  for  the  calling 
of  this  ''little  Conference,"  or  "quasi  Conference,"  as 
it  has  been  styled  by  different  historians.  The  most 
apparent  was  that  Asbury  could  not  attend  the  regular 
session  held  beyond  the  borders  of  Delaware.  But  a 
reason  given  by  Asbury  himself  was  that  the  Northern 
brethren  might  be  prepared  for  the  regular  session, 
which  is  perhaps  a  franker  reason  than  even  honest 
Asbury  meant  to  state.  So  well  were  these  brethren 
prepared  for  the  regular  Conference  that  practically 
none  of  them  attended  its  sittings.  The  real  reason 
for  holding  this  Northern  Conference  was  one  of 
masterful  strategy — namely,  to  prevent  a  separation 
of  the  societies  from  Mr.  Wesley  and  to  defeat  the 
sacramental  party.  The  Virginia  Conference  was 
regular;  the  Delaware  Conference  ^vas  irregular. 
When  that  is  said,  the  constitutional  question  has  been 
exhausted.  Some  historians  have  referred  to  the  Vir- 
ginians as  schismatics.  That  is  an  anachronism  of 
prejudice.  Asbury 's  Conference  can  be  justified  only 
by  the  logic  of  successful  revolution.  It  was  the  self- 
vindicating  expedient  of  a  seer  and  a  master  of  men. 

Sixteen  preachers  constituted  the  Delaware  Confer- 
ence.    They  agreed  to  acknowledge  the  authority  of 


94  Francis  Ashnry. 

i\sbury  as  General  Assistant^  accept  the  appointments 
made  by  him,  and  remain  in  connection  with  Mr.  Wes- 
ley. William  Watters,  the  head  of  the  Governing 
Committee  appointed  in  1777,  and  who  had  presided 
at  Leesburg,  rode  from  his  station  in  Northern  Vir- 
ginia to  attend  this  Conference  and  to  urge  Asbury 
to  attend  the  regular  session  in  Virginia.  That  he  had 
been  privy  to  Asbury's  plans  is  proved  by  the  fact 
that  he  took  an  appoinment  to  Baltimore,  and  thus 
formally  separated  himself  from  his  colleagues  in  the 
South.  "A  soft  and  healing  epistle"  was  written  the 
Virginians  begging  them  to  desist  from  their  contem- 
plated course.    This  epistle  rested  the  case  for  a  year. 

Thus  fortified  with  an  organized  Conference  behind 
him,  and  with  his  authority  as  Mr.  Wesley's  legate 
revived,  Asbury  awaited  the  issue  of  events. 

The  regular  Conference  met  at  the  appointed  time. 
William  W^atters  was  present,  but  did  not  preside. 
That  responsibility  fell  to  Philip  Gatch,  whose  name 
stood  second  on  the  Governing  Committee.  The  Con- 
ference promptly  entered  upon  a  policy  of  independen- 
cy, and  resolved  to  constitute  a  presbytery  for  the 
decent  ordination  of  a  ministry.  This  presbytery  con- 
sisted of  three  members,  with  Philip  Gatch  at  its  head. 
The  members  were  authorized  to  administer  the  sac- 
raments and  to  convey  by  ordination  a  like  authority 
to  others  whom  they  deemed  worthy. 

The  war  of  the  Revolution  had  now  reached  its 
most  tragic  stage.  Direct  communication  with  En- 
gland had  long  been  at  an  end.  The  spiritual  destitu- 
tion of  the  country  was  great;  the  priests  of  the  Es- 
tablished Church  had  nearly  all  deserted  their  cures. 
The  preachers  in  the  Virginia  Conference  were,  with- 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  95 

out  exception,  Americans.  The  call  to  do  what  they 
did  seemed  imperative.  They  were  the  children  of 
gospel  expediency,  and  they  followed  the  law  of  their 
being. 

By  the  action  of  the  Conference  the  societies  VN^ere 
erected  into  a  Presbyterian  Church.  The  breach  with 
the  Northern  Conference  was  thus,  to  all  appearances, 
complete.  Satisfied  with  what  they  had  done,  the 
Virginia  itinerants  went  forth  to  their  societies,  sud- 
denly raised  to  the  status  of  Christian  Churches,  and 
began  to  baptize  their  converts  and  give  to  their  con- 
gregations the  bread  and  wine  of  the  Holy  Supper. 

The  wrongness  of  this  course  was  wholly  in  its  in- 
expediency. It  was  legal,  it  was  canonical,  it  was 
scriptural ;  but  it  was  a  course  unadvisedly  taken.  The 
time  selected  was  not  that  appointed  of  providence.  It 
failed  in  the  end,  and  failed  logically. 

The  people  received  the  ordinances  gladly;  and  in 
the  face  of  the  fact  that  the  war  was  at  its  tragic 
height,  the  revival  in  Virginia  continued.  The  in- 
crease in  membership  in  these  parts  during  a  period 
beginning  with  January,  1779,  was  phenomenal.  Not 
unnaturally  these  tokens  were  accepted  by  both  preach- 
ers and  people  as  an  indorsemicnt  by  Providence  of  the 
sacramental  departure. 

Asbury  passed  the  remainder  of  the  year  in  great 
activity.  In  study  and  travel  he  fairly  eclipsed  his 
former  record,  though  his  circuit  lay  wholly  within 
the  State  of  Delaware.  His  condition,  too,  was  now 
much  ameliorated.  New  and  strong  friends  had  come 
to  his  aid,  amongst  them  the  Governor  of  Delav/are, 
under  whose  protection  he  had  placed  himself.  He 
had  also  found  in  Delaware  another  ''American  Fletcb- 


g6  Francis  Ashiiry. 

er"  in  the  person  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  McGraw,  of  the 
Established  Church,  who,  hke  Jarratt,  had  ahgned 
himself  with  the  Methodists  and  became  their  defend- 
er. A  continuous  revival  went  on  here  as  well,  and 
the  number  of  communicants  in  the  Church  greatly  in- 
creased, for  the  Delaware  Methodists  considered  them- 
selves Episcopalians. 

Asbury  constantly  indulged  the  hope  that  the  South- 
ern societies  would,  at  the  end  of  the  year,  make  over- 
tures for  an  agreement  and  union  with  the  societies 
in  the  North.  This  hope  came  of  his  own  knowledge 
of  the  preachers,  and  was  stimulated  by  letters  which 
he  received  from  individual  itinerants  in  the  South. 
Events  showed  that  he  had  not  wholly  mistaken  his 
brethren;  but  the  task  of  reconciliation  proved  greater 
than  he  calculated. 

The  Northern  Conference  had  adjourned  to  meet 
in  Baltimore  April  25,  1780.  Asbury  rode  thither, 
crossing  over  to  Maryland  soil  for  the  first  time  in 
more  than  two  years.  A  passport  from  the  Governor 
of  Delaware  secured  him  safe  conduct;  but  in  Mary- 
land he  was  a  nonjuror,  and  could  not  preach.  His 
presidency  over  the  Conference  was  not  interdicted; 
but  as  a  prophet  or  a  minister  he  dared  not  speak. 
Under  this  constrained  ''silence"  his  spirit  chafed ;  but 
it  vv^as  a  consequence  of  war. 

As  had  been  anticipated,  a  letter  came  from  the  Vir- 
ginia Methodists.  This  letter  was  delivered  by  mes- 
sengers emxpov/ered  to  treat.  Several  proposals  were 
made  by  Asbury,  but  were  rejected  by  the  messengers. 
At  last  Asbury  suggested  a  suspension  of  the  adminis- 
tration of  the  ordinances  for  one  year,  and  an  appeal 
to  Wesley,  with  union  and  cooperation  in  the  mean- 


A  Mastery  of  Spirits.  97 

time.  The  messengers  thought  this  might  do,  and 
agreed  to  bear  the  offer  to  their  brethren.  Asbury, 
Garrettson,  and  Watters  were  appointed  to  visit  the 
Virginians  as  commissioners  from  the  Northern  body. 

The  Southern  Conference  was  to  meet  at  Broken- 
back  Church,  ivlanikintown,  Va.,  May  9,  1780.  In 
company  with  Garrettson  and  Watters,  Asbury  started 
thither  about  the  first  of  May.  Having  perfected  his 
American  citizenship  papers,  he  had  the  great  joy  dur- 
ing his  southward  journey  to  preach  to  his  former 
parishioners  in  Baltim.ore.  In  due  time  he  and  his 
fellow-commissioners  arrived  at  the  seat  of  the  Vir- 
ginia Conference. 

Being  invited  to  come  before  the  Conference,  As- 
bury read  Mr.  Wesley's  thoughts  against  separation 
from  the  Church  of  England,  together  with  a  letter 
received  by  him  at  some  earlier  date  from  JNIr.  Wesley 
on  the  same  subject.  He  also  discussed  the  proposals 
made  to  the  Southern  messengers  at  Baltimore  two 
weeks  before.  He  did  not  speak  forensically,  or  in 
the  spirit  of  demand,  but  in  tones  of  persuasiveness 
and  love.  The  effect  of  his  address  was  so  nearly  a 
healing  of  the  difference  that  the  preachers  agreed  to 
suspend  the  administrations  on  tlie  ground  that  Asbury 
should  supply  the  ordinances  to  the  circuits.  This, 
however,  he  could  not  do;  and  so  the  matter  rested 
for  the  time. 

Asbury  closed  the  morning  session  of  the  Confer- 
ence with  a  sermon  which  melted  many  hearts.  The 
way  to  an  understanding  seemed  to  have  opened 
afresh;  but  at  the  afternoon  session  the  prospect  had 
departed.  Asbury  then  renewed  the  proposal  to  sus- 
pend the  administrations  pending  an  appeal  to  Wesley, 


98  Francis  Ashtiry. 

after  which  he  and  his  companions  withdrew  that  the 
Conference  might  have  freedom  of  discussion.  Re- 
pairing to  his  lodgings  near  by,  Asbury  fell  upon  his 
face  in  prayer.  It  was  an  hour  of  agony  and  loud 
crying  for  the  healing  of  the  hurt  of  Zion.  The  hour 
having  expired,  the  commissioners  were  recalled  to 
receive  the  answer  of  the  Conference,  The  terms  of 
union  could  not  be  accepted.  The  close  of  negotiations 
was  abrupt  enough. 

The  commissioners  now  prepared  to  return  to  their 
stations  in  the  North.  Asbury  went  again  to  his  lodg- 
ings to  take  final  leave  of  his  host ;  but  once  more  in  his 
chamber,  he  fell  upon  his  face  and  prayed  ''as  with  a 
broken  heart."  Earthly  help  was  gone;  but  the  man 
of  many  and  mighty  prayers  laid  hold  upon  the  feet 
of  Power.  Mounting  his  horse,  he  rode  away ;  but 
alighted  at  the  place  where  the  Conference  was  being 
held  to  say  farewell  to  those  who  had  chosen  to  reject 
his  counsel.  What  was  his  joy  and  surprise,  if  a  man 
of  such  faith  as  his  could  be  surprised  of  Heaven,  to 
find  that  while  he  and  his  companions  had  been  pray- 
ing the  Conference  had  accepted  his  terms.  The  ad- 
ministration of  the  ordinances  was  to  be  suspended, 
and  there  was  to  be  but  one  Conference.  ''Surely  the 
hand  of  God  has  been  greatly  seen  in  all  this"  was  the 
calmly  grateful  speech  which  Asbury  indulged  in  re- 
flecting on  the  fruitful  end  of  his  labors  and  prayers. 

To  consummate  the  act  of  union,  the  commissioners 
were  seated  in  the  Conference.  Asbury  assumed  the 
chair,  and  stationed  the  preachers.  He  was  also  re- 
quested by  Conference  action  to  take  general  oversight 
of  the  work  and  communicate  with  Mr.  Wesley  in  the 
name  of  the  reunited  societies. 


CHAPTER   IX. 

The  New  American. 

With  the  happy  close  of  the  Conference  in  Virgin- 
ia, in  1780,  dawned  not  only  a  new  era  for  Methodism 
in  America,  but  a  new  civic  experience  came  to  its 
leader.  From  that  hour  Asbury  began  to  be  an  Ameri- 
can. Having  been  made  a  full  citizen  in  Delaware 
some  days  before,  he  was  now  free  to  go  as  he  chose. 
The  invitation  of  the  Virginians  to  ride  through  their 
territory  was  therefore  accepted,  and  the  task  entered 
upon  without  delay. 

The  gloomiest  days  of  the  war  were  at  hand.  Corn- 
wallis  had  overrun  South  CaroHna  and  was  pressing 
northward  to  a  strong  position  at  Camden,  where  he 
later  inflicted  a  crushing  defeat  on  the  Americans  un- 
der General  Gates.  A  division  of  the  Continental  army 
was  now  moving  southward,  and  Asbury  was  some- 
times in  its  wake,  sometimes  on  its  flank,  as  he  stopped 
to  preach,  and  then  rode  a  forced  stage  to  meet  an- 
other waiting  company.  There  was  daily  expectation 
of  hostilities  at  the  front,  but  in  the  face  of  these 
threatening  conditions  the  tireless  itinerant  pressed  on 
through  southern  Virginia  and  upper  North  Carolina, 
the  stages  of  his  journey  aggregating  more  than  a  thou- 
sand miles  marked  by  literally  hundreds  of  sermons  and 
exhortations. 

Asbury  was  now  bishop  de  facto.  The  whole  work 
had  been  put  under  his  care  by  competent  canonical 
action.  He  had  been  given  by  the  Northern  Confer- 
aice  priinacy  in  all  matters  of  administration  and  the 

(99) 


100  Francis  Asbury. 

same  power  over  legislation  as  that  enjoyed  by  Mr. 
Wesley  in  England,  and  this  had  been  practically 
agreed  to  by  the  preachers  in  the  South.  But  for  all 
this  there  was  much  to  do  to  perfectly  heal  the  breach 
made  by  the  sacramental  controversy.  There  were 
members  of  the  party  of  separation  yet  to  be  met  and 
reconciled;  a  questioning  spirit  amongst  the  people 
had  also  to  be  answered.  This  was  one  of  the  chief 
ends  to  be  served  by  the  tour.  Therefore  as  he  ad- 
vanced he  not  only  called  sinners  to  repentance,  but 
gently  urged  the  saints  to  be  of  one  mind.  Methodists 
he  exhorted  to  follow  him  as  he  followed  Wesley.  Re- 
lief was  sure  to  come  at  no  distant  day,  and  they  must 
be  patient. 

This  work  of  reconciliation  was  not  easy.  The  Es- 
tablished Church  had  collapsed,  and,  except  in  a  few 
cases,  its  priests  had  either  fled  or  had  been  expelled 
from  the  country.  The  people  were  receiving  with 
gladness  the  old-new  truths  of  the  gospel  as  preached 
by  the  Methodists,  and  they  demanded  that  these  truths 
should  be  confirmed  in  the  sacraments.  With  mon- 
archy they  had  given  up  sacerdotalism,  and  could  not 
understand  why  the  administrations  had  been  suspend- 
ed. But  such  was  his  power  over  men  of  all  stations 
that  wherever  Asbury  v/ent  these  doubts  were  com- 
posed, though  elsewhere  much  unrest  continued  to  pre- 
vail. He  had,  however,  set  himself  to  silence  the  con- 
troversy, and  could  neither  withhold  his  voice  nor  rest 
his  goings  until  he  saw  the  end. 

In  Virginia  he  had  the  joy  to  meet  again  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Jarratt,  who  was  one  of  the  few  priests  of  the 
Establishment  remaining  in  the  country.  Being  a 
native  of  Virginia  and  in  full  sympathy  from  the  first 


The  Nc-iv  American,  lOi 

with  the  efforts  of  the  colonies  to  gain  their  independ- 
ence, he  was  naturally  a  man  much  respected,  while 
his  evangelical  spirit  and  his  zeal  as  a  preacher  made 
him  doubly  a  light  in  the  darkness  of  his  times.  He 
undertook  to  assist  Asbury  in  composing  the  differ- 
ences in  the  societies,  and  agreed  to  attend  and  par- 
ticipate in  the  proceedings  of  the  forthcoming  Metho- 
dist Conference. 

It  was  during  this  tour  also  that  Asbury  had  his 
first  meeting  with  James  O'Kelley,  who  afterwards 
became  his  strong  antagonist,  and  led  the  first  schism 
from  the  Methodist  body  in  America.  The  impression 
which  the  future  schismatic  made  upon  the  future  bish- 
op was  most  favorable,  and  for  a  long  time  after  this 
meeting  there  was  much  confidence  betv/een  them.  In- 
deed, O'Kelley  now  stood  next  to  the  leader  himself. 

About  this  time  Asbury  was  joined  by  Edward 
Bailey,  a  faithful  local  preacher,  who  became  his  trav- 
eling companion  on  the  journey  through  North  Caro- 
lina. In  a  chaise  they  traversed  the  wide  and  unmarked 
circuits,  fording  deep  rivers,  winding  and  cutting  their 
way  through  trackless  forests  and  over  broken  and 
rocky  ledges.  Crossing  the  Tar,  the  Neuse,  and  the 
Haw  Rivers,  they  pushed  well-nigh  into  the  heart  of 
the  State.  Returning  by  a  more  westerly  path,  they 
came  to  the  tov/n  of  Hillsboro,  then  a  place  of  some 
importance,  and  still  possessing  a  real  historic  interest. 
From  this  point  they  continued  their  return  in  a  direct 
course  to  the  Virginia  line,  and  on  the  8th  of  Sep- 
tember crossed  the  Roanoke  River,  having  spent  some- 
what more  than  two  months  in  the  Carolina  Circuits. 
Soon  after  returning  to  Virginia  Asbury  was  deeply 
saddened  by  the  death  of_his  faithful  traveling  com- 


I02  Francis  Asbury. 

panion,  who  expired,  after  a  brief  warning,  in  the  midst 
of  zealous  labors. 

About  this  time  also  he  took  another  degree  in  pa- 
triotism, and  was  led  to  more  fully  declare  his  fealty 
to  the  American  cause.  On  receipt  of  the  news  that 
the  army  of  General  Gates  had  been  defeated  by  Corn- 
wallis,  he  wrote  in  his  journal :  "1  have  a  natural  affec- 
tion for  my  own  countrymen;  yet  I  can  hear  them 
called  cruel,  and  calmly  listen  to  threatenings  of  slaugh- 
ter against  them."  It  was  his  sense  of  English  justice 
that  made  him  a  loyal  American. 

Although  the  Virginia  Conference  had  adjourned 
early  in  May,  it  was  not  until  the  middle  of  September 
that  Asbury  communicated  to  Mr.  Wesley  information 
of  the  reconciliation  of  the  divided  societies.  There 
are  two  possible  reasons  for  this  delay.  The  first  is 
that  Asbury  may  have  found  no  earlier  opportunity 
for  dispatching  a  letter.  Private  postal  matter  meant 
for  England  had  first  to  go  either  to  France  or  the 
Netherlands,  and  from  thence  through  the  post  of  an- 
other and  friendly  power.  Ships  sailed  at  long  and  un- 
certain intervals.  But  what  is  more  likely  to  have  been 
the  reason  was  that  Asbury  desired  first  to  satisfy  him- 
self as  to  the  sentiment  amongst  the  people.  The  con- 
tents of  the  letter  w^iich  he  wrote  are  not  now  fully 
known,  but  the  communication  which  came  from  Mr. 
Wesley  by  the  hand  of  Dr.  Coke  in  1784  and  the  com- 
mission which  he  bore  to  organize  a  Church  and  ordain 
a  clergy  were  a  full  answer  to  the  request  which  it  pre- 
ferred. 

From  this  first  general  tour  Asbury  returned  to  his 
earthly  Eden,  "Perry  Hall,"  praying  as  he  went  a 
ceaseless  prayer  for  the  peace  of  the  people  he  had 


The  Nczv  American.  103 

seen  scattered  through  the  wilderness.  His  faith  was 
strong,  divinely  strong;  but  he  could  not  then  grasp 
that  vision  of  the  future  which  would  have  given  him 
rest  from  every  thought  of  the  morrow.  But  the  ways 
of  the  J),Iost  High  are  hidden  that  the  faith  of  his  cho- 
sen may  have  its  needed  exercise. 

At  his  going  out  in  the  early  spring  his  purse  had 
been  by  the  princely  Gough  replenished  with  three  guin- 
eas. This  stock  he  had  largely  expended  on  his  jour- 
ney through  the  South ;  but  the  last  farthing  had  gone 
from  his  hand  only  when  he  was  in  sight,  as  it  were, 
of  the  gables  of  'Terry  Hall."  Thus  the  expenses  in- 
curred during  nearly  twice  a  thousand  miles  of  travel 
were  accounted  for  in  the  expenditure  of  somewhat  less 
than  ten  dollars  in  coin  and  a  few  dollars  of  almost 
worthless  Continental  paper.  It  is  not  a  matter  of  sur- 
prise that  to  a  man  of  such  simplicity  and  frugality  a 
yearly  salary  of  sixty-five  dollars  should  seem  an  abun- 
dance ! 

The  return  of  the  General  Assistant  to  the  North 
was  timely.  During  his  half  year  of  absence  in  Vir- 
ginia trouble  had  arisen  in  Maryland  and  Delaware. 
The  quarterly  meetings  had  come  on,  and  the  exchange 
of  preachers  had  taken  place.  With  no  authority  pres- 
ent to  arbitrate  their  differences  of  judgment,  serious 
friction  had  resulted.  This  was  the  really  weak  point 
in  the  polity  of  early  Methodism,  but  one  which  was 
afterwards  remedied  in  the  office  of  the  presiding  elder- 
ship. 

Within  a  year  after  his  new  investiture  Asbury  saw 
the  magnitude  of  his  task.  He  must  be  constructively 
present  in  every  part  of  the  field.  To  make  this  possi- 
ble he  must  cause  his  face  and  personality  to  become 


104  Francis  Asbury. 

familiar  to  the  whole  body  of  the  people  called  Meth- 
odists. The  task  was  a  large  one.  His  apostleship 
had  developed  in  a  call  to  increased  travel  and  labors ; 
but  the  prospect  gave  him  joy,  and  he  shrank  from  no 
responsibility.  He  reentered  Delaware  in  November, 
and  by  the  coming  of  New  Year's  Day  all  friction  had 
been  removed.  Even  graver  difnciilties  yielded  to  his 
wise  and  gentle  tactics.  Letters  came  from  Virginia 
saying:  "The  jarring  string  has  been  broken,  and  those 
vAio  were  friends  at  first  are  friends  at  last."  The  vi- 
sion of  the  prophet  upon  Shiggionotli  was  repeated. 

The  advantage  which  came  of  holding  two  Confer- 
ences in  1779  and  1780  suggested  to  Asbury  a  continu- 
ance of  the  plan.  Two  sessions  would  accommodate 
a  greater  number  of  the  preachers,  and  in  the  event  of 
a  renewal  of  the  sacramental  question  or  the  emergence 
of  a  new  difficulty,  one  section  could  be  held  as  a  check 
on  the  other.  The  point  was  not  to  be  overlooked  by 
so  wise  a  leader  and  so  careful  a  disciplinarian  as  As- 
bury. Two  sittings  were  accordingly  planned  for  1781, 
the  first  to  be  had  at  Choptank,  in  Delaware,  on  April 
16,  and  the  other  at  Baltimore  on  April  24.  This  last 
sitting  was,  in  fact,  the  regularly  adjourned  session  of 
the  Virginia  Conference,  which  had  met  at  Manikin- 
town  the  previous  year. 

The  statistics  for  the  year  showed  ten  thousand  five 
hundred  and  ninety-four  members  In  society  and  fifty- 
four  preachers.  At  the  Baltimore  session  there  v/as  for 
the  first  time  in  two  years  an  attendance  of  preachers 
from  the  whole  field  and  a  healthy  exchange  of  assist- 
ants and  helpers  between  the  North  and  the  South.  As- 
bury's  remedy  for  schism,  as  also  his  rule  of  evangel- 
ism, was  "a  circulation  of  the  preachers." 


The  Nezv  American.  105 

At  this  time  a  vast  new  missionary  field  was  being 
opened  up  in  the  mountains  of  Northern  Virginia,  and 
to  this  territory  the  General  Assistant  rode  after  the 
session  of  the  Conference.  Setting  out  about  the  end 
of  May,  he  pushed  as  far  westward  as  ]\Iartinsburg. 
Turning  northwestward  from  that  point,  he  preached 
in  the  wild  and  picturesque  mountain  valleys  along  and 
beyond  the  south  branch  of  the  Potomac.  There  he 
longed  to  be  able  to  speak  with  tongues  that  he  might 
preach  the  gospel  to  the  peoples  and  kindreds  who  had 
come  to  make  their  homes  in  those  fair  new  lands. 
Commissioning  men,  he  sent  them  forth  to  press  be- 
yond the  mountains  to  the  north  and  west  and  become 
the  vanguard  of  an  itinerant  army  that  later  brought 
the  far-reaching  valleys  of  the  Ohio  and  its  tributaries 
under  the  dominion  of  Methodism.  In  those  wonder- 
spelling  mountains  he  saw  the  gushing  springs  and 
explored  the  stalactite  caves  that  have  since  made  fa- 
mous the  Appalachian  highlands  of  Virginia. 

It  was  on  this  journey  also  that  he  had  his  first  taste 
of  real  pioneering.  On  the  bare  floors  of  squatters' 
cabins,  on  the  tops  of  n.aked  chests,  and  even  on  the 
stony  floor  of  mountain  paths  he  found  often  his  only 
rest  for  the  night.  But  naturally  he  improved  in  bodily 
frame,  breathing  the  ozone  of  those  freer  altitudes  and 
drinking  the  uninfected  waters  filtered  from  mountain 
sands.  At  the  end  of  the  summer,  with  the  fragrance 
of  the  laurel  and  the  pine  on  his  garments,  high  in 
spirits  and  with  a  widened  vision  of  his  undisputed 
see,  he  returned  for  a  brief  official  tour  of  Maryland 
and  Pennsylvania. 

Letters  from  the  Peninsula  and  from  the  lower  sta- 
tions in  Virginia  awaited  him.    Those  from  the  Penin- 


io6  Francis  Asbiiry. 

sula  told  of  peace  and  continued  revival.  The  priests 
of  the  expiring  Establishment  united  with  the  Meth- 
odist exhorters  in  the  call  to  repentance.  Rev.  Charles 
Pettigrew,  an  Anglican,  afterv/ards  elected  to  the  Prot- 
estant Episcopal  diocese  of  Delaware,  was  in  warm 
sympathy  with  the  revival.  Freeborn  Garrettson,  late- 
ly released  from  prison,  where  he  had  suffered  for  the 
gospel's  sake,  had  fired  the  workers  with  new  zeal.  Not 
the  common  people  only,  but  the  aristocracy,  heard  the 
message  gladly.  Now  could  Asbury  see  the  meaning 
of  his  two  years  of  exile  in  pent-up  Delaware.  The 
seed  which  he  sowed  during  those  months  of  seeming 
vanity  had  already  begun  to  yield  their  fruit. 

The  letters  from  Virginia  told  of  a  no  less  advancing 
work ;  but  there  was  still  a  note  of  discord — a  sporadic 
discontent  on  account  of  the  suspended  ordinances. 
That  meant  another  tour  through  those  parts  before 
the  Conference  should  meet.  But  important  as  was 
that  visit,  it  must  be  delayed.  Philadelphia  and  the 
more  northern  stations,  lately  freed  from  the  incubus 
of  garrisoning  armies,  must  be  counseled  and  helped. 
The  war  had  left  in  those  parts  many  wastes  that  must 
be  repaired  without  delay. 

Now  for  the  first  time  we  begin  to  hear  of  ''quarter- 
ly meeting  Conferences ;"  and  indeed  at  this  time  it  is 
'difficult  to  determine  the  line  of  distinction  between 
the  functions  of  a  quarterly  and  an  annual, Conference. 
At  the  lesser,  as  at  the  greater,  gathering  Asbury  or- 
ganized circuits,  appointed  preachers,  and  administered 
discipline.  Throughout  there  was  no  fixed  program, 
but  all  things  took  the  course  of  Christian  expediency. 
The  outlines  of  a  great  ecclesiasticism  were,  however, 
slowly  coming  into  viev/. 


The  New  American.  107 

No  complete  account  of  the  Methodist  movement  in 
America  had  been  written  up  to  this  time,  and  the  need 
for  such  a  narrative  was  being  felt.  Asbury  under- 
took to  supply  the  lack.  This  work  must  have  been 
a  mere  pamphlet,  and  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to 
ascertain  no  copy  of  it  is  in  existence.  Of  similar  char- 
acter was  a  brochure  on  the  cause  and  cure  of  Church 
divisions,  meant  to  offset  the  arguments  of  the  Flu- 
vanna party.  Aside  from  his  journal  these  appear  to 
be  the  most  serious  literary  essays  he  ever  set  himself 
to  produce. 

The  Quarterly  Conference  visitations  in  the  North 
being  completed,  he  was  again,  at  the  beginning  of  win- 
ter, in  Virginia.  The  point  of  going  out  was  Bohemia 
Manor,  the  gateway  through  which  he  passed  to  that 
mysterious  Southland  that  lay  before  him  in  the  au- 
tumn of  1772.  What  miracles  had  been  wrought  in 
those  ten  years !  When  he  first  saw  Bohemia  Manor 
he  was  young  and  inexperienced ;  and  though  of  a 
courageous  faith,  he  was  going  forth  as  one  not  know- 
ing whither  he  was  led.  Then  the  Methodists  in  Amer- 
ica were  but  a  few  hundred ;  now  they  Vv'ere  thousands 
on  thousands,  and  multiplying  daily.  Then  he  was 
the  distrusted  superior  of  half  a  dozen  fellow-workers ; 
now  he  was  the  chosen  leader  of  threescore  men  of 
faith  and  iron,  who  were  ready  to  go  and  come  as  he 
said,  only  asking  that  he  follow  Christ  as  they  fol- 
lowed him. 

Again  his  path  led  through  that  region  of  the  Old 
Dominion  where  six  years  before  so  remarkable  a 
revival  had  attended  the  labors  of  Shadford  and  Jar- 
ratt.  There  was  there  now  a  strong  and  growing 
Methodist  constituency.    The  war  had  not  affected  the 


io8  Francis  Asbury. 

prosperity  of  the  region,  but  it  had  been  the  center  of 
the  sacramental  disturbance,  and  the  general  assistant 
approached  it  with  apprehension.  His  fears  were, 
however,  groundless,  for  on  arriving  he  found  that  the 
spirit  of  division  was  dead,  or  only  lingered  in  fitful 
and  widely  separated  manifestations. 

All  along  Asbury  had  trusted  much  to  the  sympathy 
and  good  influence  of  Jarratt.  Both  the  preachers  and 
the  people  in  Virginia  had  great  respect  for  him,  and 
were  much  influenced  by  his  advice.  This  Virginia 
journey  brought  Asbury  again  into  his  home  and  par- 
ish. The  fact  that  the  initial  sitting  of  the  Conference 
for  the  year  v/as  to  be  had  at  Ellis's  Preaching  House 
in  Sussex  made  it  possible  for  Jarratt  to  redeem  his 
pledge,  made  to  Asbury  the  year  before,  to  attend  and 
participate.  The  sitting  took  place  on  April  17,  and 
Mr.  Jarratt  opened  the  proceedings  with  a  discourse. 
The  preachers  present  signed  a  paper  renewing  the 
agreement  of  the  former  year  concerning  the  sacra- 
ments, and  the  Conference  closed  with  a  second  dis- 
course by  Mr.  Jarratt.  "The  power  of  God  was  mani- 
fested in  a  most  extraordinary  manner,"  wrote  Asbury 
in  his  journal  the  next  day ;  "the  preachers  and  people 
wept,  believed,  loved,  and  obeyed." 

The  Church  priest  and  the  Methodist  general  assist- 
ant then  rode  away  together,  but  soon  to  separate,  the 
Churchman  to  visit  certain  Virginia  circuits  as  an 
evangelist,  and  the  general  assistant  to  look  after  dis- 
tant parts  of  the  field.  As  he  continued  his  journey 
northward,  he  heard  the  welcome  news  that  the  war 
of  the  Revolution  had  ended  in  victory  for  the  Colo- 
nies. His  Americanism  is  reflected  in  this  entry  made 
the  same  day  in  his  journal:  "Here  I  heard  the  good 


The  New  American.  109 

news  that  Britain  had  acknowledged  the  independence 
for  which  America  has  been  contending.  May  it  be 
so!" 

The  Baltimore  sitting  of  the  Conference  began  on 
May  20.  Since  the  minutes  of  both  sittings  were  con- 
solidated into  one  record,  it  is  difficult  to  ascertain  at 
which  sitting  any  particular  action  began.  It  is  under- 
stood, though,  that  important  items  went  before  each 
body  for  ratification.  The  minutes  of  the  year  show 
these  actions  to  have  been  taken,  originating,  presuma- 
bly, with  the  Virginians : 

''Question  18.  Shall  we  erase  that  question  proposed 
in  the  Deer  Creek  Conference  respecting  the  ordi- 
nances ?" 

"Answer.  Undoubtedly  we  must ;  it  can  have  no  place 
in  our  minutes  while  v/e  stand  to  our  agreement  signed 
in  Conference ;  it  is  therefore  disannulled." 

"Ques.  19.  Do  the  brethren  in  Conference  choose 
Brother  Asbury  to  act  according  to  Mr.  Wesley's  orig- 
inal appointment,  and  preside  over  the  American  Con- 
ference and  the  whole  work?" 

"Ans.  Yes." 

Thus  was  the  latter  state  of  the  unmitered  Bishop 
made  m.ore  secure  than  the  first,  and  also  was  the  desire 
of  the  people  to  have  the  ordinances  at  the  hands  of 
their  own  preachers  sepulchered  to  have  a  triumphant 
resurrection  in  the  Christmas  Conference. 

The  latter  half  of  1782  was  spent  by  Asbury  in 
Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and  Delaware.  His  first  care 
was  to  discharge  a  long-accumulating  correspondence 
and  look  after  certain  Church  properties  embarrassed 
by  ante-war  debts.  Another  office  was  to  plan  relief 
fqr.  those  chapels  harassed  by  exorbitant  ground  rents, 


110  Francis  Asbiiry. 

a  burdensome  entailment  of  some  of  our  present-day 
Churches  in  Baltimore  and  other  Eastern  cities. 

The  New  Year  brought  another  call  to  Virginia. 
His  first  sermon  in  the  State  was  at  Williamsburg,  the 
Colonial  Capital,  where  the  fiery  eloquence  of  Patrick 
Henry  had  stirred  the  Cavaliers  in  their  first  real  re- 
sistance to  the  Hanoverian  tyrant.  But  when  Asbury 
saw  it  glory  it  had  none.  The  functions  and  the  func- 
tionaries of  State  had  long  before  removed  to  Rich- 
mond, and  the  preacher  left  it  with  little  hope  that  it 
would  ever  become  a  fruitful  part  of  the  spiritual  vine- 
yard. 

Passing  through  Virginia,  he  again  entered  North 
Carolina,  pushing  many  leagues  farther  westward  than 
in  1780.  The  borders  of  Methodism  had  been  extended 
far  beyond  the  Yadkin,  even  to  the  western  base  of 
those  uplooming  mountains  that  then  formed  the  hin- 
terland of  American  civilization.  Salem,  the  famous 
Moravian  settlement  in  the  northern  Piedmont,  and 
Hillsboro,  the  latter  still  suffering  from  the  calamities 
of  war,  were  visited,  as  were  many  other  intervening 
points. 

The  Virginia  sitting  of  the  Conference  recurred  at 
Ellis's  Preaching  House,  in  Sussex  County,  May  6, 
1783.  This  session,  as  also  the  one  which  met  twenty- 
one  days  later  in  Baltimore,  was  conducted  in  great 
peace.  The  question  of  African  slavery,  often  referred 
to  by  Asbury  and  more  than  once  brought  before  the 
Conference,  came  up  in  a  more  pronounced  form  than 
it  had  hitherto  assumed.  The  recently  published  peace 
and  the  settled  nationality  of  the  Colonies  gave  to  the 
subject  a  new  significance.  "We  all  agreed  in  the 
spirit  of  African  liberty,"  wrote  Asbury  in  his  journal; 


The  New  American,  III 

and  a  rule  was  made  which  required  local  as  well  as 
traveling  preachers  to  manumit  their  slaves  where  the 
laws  of  the  State  permitted  it. 

The  Conference  of  1783  is  chiefly  famous  as  the  one 
at  which  Jesse  Lee  was  received  on  trial  into  the  trav- 
eling connection.  Few  men  were  more  active  and 
prominent  in  the  early  American  Church.  As  the  first 
historian  of  Methodism  and  as  the  founder  of  the  sta- 
tions in  New  England,  he  has  become  known  to  later 
generations.  Witty,  eloquent,  of  commanding  person- 
ality, and  filled  with  the  Holy  Ghost,  he  was  perhaps 
the  most  effective  man  in  the  itinerant  ranks  in  his 
day.  He  barely  missed  election  to  the  episcopacy  in 
1800;  and  it  was  he  who  as  early  as  1791  first  sketched 
a  plan  for  a  delegated  General  Conference.  This  was 
seventeen  years  before  Soule  drafted  the  Constitution 
of  Methodism.  Lee  and  Asbury  were  strikingly  un- 
like in  mold  and  temperament,  but  they  were  able  to  co- 
operate in  many  great  enterprises ;  yet,  alas !  too  often 
their  differences  of  mold  and  temperament  caused  un- 
happy misunderstandings  to  arise  between  them. 

Asbury's  circuit  widened  each  year  until  it  reached 
the  limit  of  possible  movement  in  that  primitive  time. 
Judging  from  his  journal,  however,  the  year  between 
the  Conferences  of  1783  and  those  of  1784  seems  to 
have  been  an  exception ;  nevertheless,  he  covered  much 
the  same  ground  in  Virginia  and  Carolina  as  he  had 
in  the  previous  year,  and  but  for  an  ulcerated  foot  he 
would  have  crossed  the  mountains  into  the  lands  of 
the  Holston.  He  had  previously  visited  the  stations 
in  the  North,  including  New  York,  from  which  he  had 
been  absent  for  several  years,  and  which  had  been 
without  a  preacher  during  the  British  occupation.    A 


112  Francis  Asbury. 

few  months  prior  to  his  visit  John  Dickins  had  been 
sent  thither  to  renew  the  work. 

Coming  events  were  now  casting  distinct  shadows. 
A  letter  came  to  Asbury  from  Mr.  Wesley  in  Decem- 
ber appointing  him  to  be  General  Assistant,  a  position 
which  he  had  been  filling  by  election  of  his  brethren 
since  1780.  Either  through  this  letter  or  other  medium 
intimation  had  been  given  of  I\Ir.  Wesley's  maturing 
plans.  It  w^as  know^n  that  he  w^as  asking  ordination  for 
his  preachers  at  the  hands  of  the  bishops  of  the  Estab- 
lishment. Indeed,  the  denoument  of  the  Christmas 
Conference  would  no  doubt  have  occurred  in  1782  ex- 
cept for  the  refusal  of  the  Anglican  prelates  to  lay 
hands  on  the  diplomaless  Methodists.  Thus  the  secret 
of  the  failure  of  Methodism  to  remain  an  adjunct  of 
the  Anglican  Church  was  a  matter  of  Greek  roots  and 
sheepskins.  A  mess  of  pottage  changed  the  history 
of  the  ancient  world,  and  made  the  Jewish  Church 
possible.     Providence  is  wiser  than  men. 

The  Conference  met  in  the  spring  of  1784  in  the  con- 
fident belief  that  the  deliverance  of  the  long-distressed 
societies  was  near  at  hand.  Mr.  Wesley's  letter  was 
laid  before  the  two  sittings,  and  **all  were  happy."  The 
Conference  was  now  united,  compact,  and  dominated 
by  a  spirit  of  absolute  devotion.  The  members  have 
been  described  as  men  "dead  to  the  world''  and  gifted 
and  enterprising  in  the  things  of  God.  The  number 
of  members  reported  in  society  lacked  but  a  round 
dozen  of  being  fifteen  thousand,  with  ninety-three  itin- 
erant preachers.  This  Conference  practically  closed 
the  Colonial  period  of  American  Methodism.  The 
history-making  Christmas  Conference  was  but  seven 
nionths  ofif. 


CHAPTER    X. 
An  Apostle  by  Proof. 

The  careful  student  may  discover  in  the  destiny- 
used  men  of  all  times  a  quality  of  personality  which 
suggests  a  truer  philosophical  basis  of  history  than 
do  the  data  arranged  by  either  Buckle  or  Guizot.  That 
quality  is  the  ability  of  the  actor  in  history  not  only  to 
see  the  supreme  opportunity  when  it  is  presented,  but 
to  rise  to  the  height  of  its  tests  and  requirements.  This 
was  the  quality  of  Francis  Asbury  that  stood  him  in 
the  stead  of  genius.  His  sincerity  of  purpose  and  in- 
stant preparation  of  life  were  something  more  than 
the  fruit  of  even  religious  loyalty.  They  were  the 
manifestation  of  the  spirit  of  history,  the  answer  to 
the  intelligent  ordering  and  execution  of  the  plans  of 
Providence.  The  doctrine  of  immanences  would  be 
a  contradiction,  an  absurdity,  if  it  could  not  vindicate 
itself  in  this  way. 

Asbury  had  been  slowly  prepared  for  the  supreme 
exigency  of  his  life.  Destiny  was  bound  up  in  him,  and 
the  time  was  fast  approaching.  The  Christm.as  Con- 
ference, of  which  as  yet  no  Methodist  in  Europe  or 
America  had  dreamed,  was  about  to  be  called.  The 
time  v/nen  a  new  and  boldly  conceived  ecclesiasticism, 
with  an  apostolic  and  reversionary  type  of  orders,  was 
to  emerge  from  the  somev/hat  complicated  conditions 
and  relations  of  the  MethodismiS  of  the  Old  and  the 
New  World  was  now  but  a  matter  of  weeks.  Asbury, 
who  had  created  the  possibilities  upon  which  these 
8  (113) 


114  Francis  Asbury. 

thing's  were  predicable,  was  the  pivot  upon  which  their 
enactment  was  to  turn. 

Immediately  after  the  treaty  of  peace,  which  gave 
independence  to  the  American  Colonies,  Mr.  Wesley 
was  able  to  read  the  necessity  for  a  new  and  democrat- 
ic ecclesiasticism  befitting  the  spirit  of  the  young  re- 
public. But  in  this,  as  in  all  his  enterprises,  he  moved 
slowly,  and  took  but  one  step  at  a  time.  He  had  long 
had  a  desire  to  visit  America  in  person,  but  the  seven 
years  of  war  had  put  that  thought  beyond  him.  He 
was  now  advanced  in  years  much  beyond  fourscore, 
and  must  needs  commit  to  another  the  offices  in  which 
he  would  fain  himself  have  served  his  children  beyond 
the  Atlantic.  Early  in  1784  he  settled  upon  Dr.  Thom- 
as Coke,  a  Welshman  by  birth,  a  graduate  of  Oxford, 
and  an  ordained  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England, 
for  this  work.  Coke  was  not  only  the  son  of  a  fam- 
ily of  high  social  rank,  but  he  had  inherited  an  ample 
fortune.  Possessed  of  a  naturally  ambitious  spirit,  he 
entered  politics  on  leaving  the  university,  but  soon 
took  orders  and  was  settled  as  curate  in  a  middle  Eng- 
lish parish.  He  expected  to  rise  to  distinction  in  the 
Establishment,  and  would  no  doubt  have  done  so,  but 
was  convicted  of  sin  under  his  own  preaching,  and  on 
seeking  the  aid  of  a  Methodist  class  leader  found  ease- 
ment of  his  burden,  and  began  to  preach  with  evangel- 
ical fervor  and  directness.  He  was  at  once  accused  of 
being  a  Methodist,  and  was  shortly  afterwards  dis- 
missed from  his  curacy.  With  but  little  delay,  he 
visited  Mr.  Wesley,  whom  he  had  not  before  seen.  His 
gifts,  learning,  and  deep  religious  experience  at  once 
commended  him  to  the  now  aged  leader  of  Methodism, 
who  had  long  been  looking  about  for  a  successor  to  be 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  115 

trained  to  leadership  under  his  own  eye.  At  one  time 
he  thought  to  lay  this  responsibility  on  Fletcher,  his 
saintly  associate ;  but  Fletcher  could  never  be  brought 
to  consent  to  the  arrangement.  At  a  glance  Wesley 
saw  in  Coke  the  man  divinely  provided.  He  was  un- 
der thirty  years  of  age,  bore  the  seal  of  the  Spirit,  and 
had  been,  like  himself,  thrust  out  to  learn  the  will  of 
God  in  persecutions  and  afflictions.  He  therefore  at 
once  invited  Coke  to  meet  the  preachers  in  Conference, 
and  from  that  day  to  the  end  of  Wesley's  life  no  man 
was  so  much  in  his  counsels  as  the  gifted  Welshman. 

The  subject  of  the  mission  to  America  was  broached 
to  Coke  as  early  as  February,  1784.  It  was  then  that 
Wesley  first  expounded  to  him  his  long-settled  belief 
that  as  a  presbyter  he  had,  according  to  usage  in  the 
primitive  Church,  the  same  right  to  ordain  that  he  had 
to  administer  the  sacraments,  and  explained  that  in 
view  of  his  failure  to  secure  relief  from  the  Bishops 
of  the  Establishment  he  felt  justified  in  exercising  his 
scriptural  right  to  provide  ordained  ministers  for  the 
societies  in  America.  The  simple  and  unconventional 
proposition,  therefore,  was  that  Dr.  Coke  should  ac- 
cept from  Wesley's  hands  ordination  to  the  episcopacy, 
and  proceed  with  that  authority  to  America  to  ordain 
a  ministry  and  superintend  the  societies.  The  sugges- 
tion was  at  first  received  by  Coke  with  misgivings.  By 
April  of  the  same  year  he  had,  however,  reached  a 
favorable  state  of  mind,  and,  while  expressing  doubts 
as  to  his  fitness  for  the  work,  submitted  himself  to 
authority. 

At  the  Wesleyan  Conference  for  the  year,  which  met 
at  Leeds  in  August,  the  matter  of  the  mission  was  con- 
cluded,  though   the   question  of  ordination   was   left 


Ii6  Francis  Asbury. 

open.  The  preachers  were  not  favorable  to  the  idea, 
but  for  that  Mr.  Wesley  considered  himself  solely  re- 
sponsible. Dr.  Coke,  Richard  Whatcoat,  and  Thomas 
Vasey  were  selected  for  the  American  work,  and  be- 
gan at  once  to  make  preparations  for  their  voyage. 

After  the  Conference  Mr.  Wesley  repaired  to  Bris- 
tol, and  Dr.  Coke  set  off  for  London.  Some  days  later 
he  addressed  a  letter  to  Mr.  Wesley,  fully  accepting 
his  views  with  reference  to  the  proposed  ordination, 
and  expressing  the  opinion  that  his  mission  could  be 
satisfactorily  accomiplished  under  no  less  authority 
than  that  which  ]^,Ir.  Wesley  had  offered  to  confer. 
The  result  of  this  letter  was  that  Mr.  Wesley  wrote 
to  Coke  asking  his  immediate  presence  in  Bristol  and 
directing  him  to  bring  with  him  the  Rev.  Mr.  Creigh- 
ton,  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  who  had 
often  preached  in  the  London  chapels  and  who  was  in 
complete  accord  with  Wesley's  work  and  policies. 

On  the  arrival  of  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Creighton  in 
Bristol  Wesley  reviewed  the  arguments  for  the  step 
he  was  about  to  take,  which  arguments  he  had  pon- 
dered for  more  than  a  score  of  years,  and  then  with 
the  assistance  of  the  two  clergymen  ordained  Richard 
Whatcoat  and  Thomas  Vasey  presbyters  for  Anierica. 
''Being  peculiarly  attached  to  every  rite  of  the  Church 
of  England,"  he  thereafter,  with  the  assistance  of 
Creighton,  ordained  Dr.  Coke  superintendent  or  bish- 
op for  the  work  in  America,  and  gave  him  ''letters  of 
ordination  under  his  hand  and  seal." 

In  this  act  the  Founder  of  Methodism  contradicted 
the  prejudices  of  a  lifetime  to  follow  the  straitly 
marked  path  of  Providence.  Li  the  office  of  conse- 
crator  he  acted  not  as  the  Churchman,  but  as  the  effi- 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  1 17 

cient  agent  of  a  history  that  had  come  to  the  point 
of  its  outgoing.  He  was  impelled  to  an  act  which, 
though  he  had  appraised  and  judged  it  in  advance,  he 
was  at  little  pains  to  publicly  vindicate.  That  was  for 
all  future  times  to  do.  He  was  shut  up  to  do  what  he 
did.  The  reasons  in  hand  and  the  logic  of  history  were 
sufficient ;  the  results  were  to  pass  to  other  years  and 
other  generations. 

It  thus  happens  that  the  orders  and  authority  of  the 
ministry  of  Episcopal  Methodism  rest  upon  both  an 
apostolic  and  historic  basis.  The  type  is  demonstrably 
apostolic,  and  the  historic  identification  is  both  succes- 
sional  and  instant  in  historic  necessity.  They  are,  in 
fact,  the  recovery  and  restoration  of  those  simple  apos- 
tolic methods  and  functions  which  were  displaced  by 
constrained  interpretations  of  the  evangel.  The  status 
of  Methodist  ordinations  in  the  three  offices  of  the 
ministry  is  forever  settled  in  the  logic  of  which  these 
statements  are  a  brief  setting  forth.  The  hierarchical 
cavil  in  opposition  has  multiplied  itself  into  unprofita- 
ble volumes ;  but  the  canons  of  Methodism,  settled  in 
history  and  providence,  are  beyond  repeal,  and  find  a 
larger  vindication  every  year. 

But  large  as  were  the  reasonings  which  guided  the 
mind  of  Wesley  in  planning  for  a  new  ecclesiastical 
order  in  America,  and  wholly  as  he  rested  in  the  cer- 
tainty of  the  divine  approval,  the  human  center  of  his 
confidence  was  the  personality  of  Francis  Asbury.  The 
whole  scheme  of  the  organization,  so  far  as  any  details 
were  anticipated,  revolved  around  that  personality; 
and  when  the  hour  of  determination  came,  it  was 
found  that  the  weight  and  influence  of  that  personality 
were  supreme.     This  was  unquestionably  the  scale  of 


ii8  Francis  Asbury. 

the  Petrine  primacy  in  the  apostolic  community.  It 
was  not  hierarchical  or  ecclesiastical  precedency,  but 
the  ascendency  of  personality.  Personality  is  the  basis 
of  the  priesthood  of  history. 

A  writer  from  whom  I  have  already  quoted  sketches 
a  picture  of  Asbury  as  he  stood  amongst  his  brethren 
at  the  moment  Wesley  was  shaping  to  a  conclusion  his 
plans  for  the  settlement  of  the  societies  in  the  New 
World,  and  only  a  few  months  before  the  arrival  of 
Coke  bearing  the  Magna  Charta  of  American  Metho- 
dism. This  writer  says :  "Among  the  pioneers  Asbury, 
by  common  consent,  stood  first  and  chief.  There  was 
something  in  his  person,  his  eye,  his  mien,  and  in  the 
music  of  his  voice  which  interested  all  who  heard  him. 
He  possessed  much  natural  wit,  and  was  capable  of 
the  severest  satire ;  but  grace  and  good  sense  so  far 
predominated  that  he  never  descended  to  anything  be- 
neath the  dignity  of  a  man  and  a  Christian." 

This  was  the  figure  which  to  the  vision  of  Wesley 
loomed  large  in  the  foreground  of  the  possibilities  of 
Methodism  in  America.  It  was  faith  In  this  man  that 
led  him  to  consent  to  so  large  an  independency  for  the 
societies  and  to  so  radical  a  departure  for  their  gov- 
ernment. 

Dr.  Coke,  in  company  with  his  associates,  Whatcoat 
and  Vasey,  arrived  in  New  York  on  November  3,  1784. 
No  official  information  concerning  this  mission  had 
been  sent  to  America,  and  the  arrival  of  the  missiona- 
ries was,  in  consequence,  unexpected.  Mr.  Asbury, 
who,  after  the  Conference  held  at  Baltimore  in  the 
previous  spring,  had  ridden  through  the  Valley  of  Vir- 
ginia and  parts  of  Pennsylvania,  had  been  in  New 
York  as  late  as  September ;  but  his  stay  had  been  short. 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  119 

and  he  was  now  touring  through  the  ever-fruitful  dis- 
tricts of  the  Peninsula.  While  in  New  York  he  had 
learned  through  letters  received  from  England  by  John 
Dickins,  the  preacher  in  charge,  something  of  the  plans 
of  Mr.  Wesley,  and  he  had  also  had  an  intimation  of 
the  coming  of  Dr.  Coke.  But  the  information  was  too 
indefinite  to  more  than  feed  a  hope  that  sometime — 
possibly  soon — the  help  so  long  prayed  for  by  the  soci- 
eties would  come.  He  had  not  even  attempted  to  fore- 
cast the  character  of  the  relief  to  be  provided. 

Immediately  on  his  arrival  in  New  York  Dr.  Coke 
disclosed  the  secret  of  his  commission  to  Dickins,  and 
that  well-taught  and  enthusiastic  reformer  advised 
him  to  proclaim  it  at  once.  But  the  legate  of  Wesley 
could  only  reply  that  Mr.  Asbury  was  first  to  be  "most 
respectfully  consulted  concerning  every  part  of  the 
plan  and  its  execution."  He  accordingly,  after  a  very 
brief  delay,  set  out  to  seek  Mr.  Asbury  in  the  South, 
where,  like  another  Elisha,  his  hand  was  upon  the 
plow  in  the  furrowed  field.  The  first  stage  of  the 
journey  ended  at  Philadelphia,  where  a  short  stop  was 
made,  and  where  Dr.  Coke  was  cordially  received  not 
only  by  the  members  of  the  society,  but  also  by  two 
resident  Episcopal  clergymen.  Dr.  McGaw,  who  had 
cooperated  with  Asbury  in  Delaware,  and  Dr.  White, 
who  afterwards  became  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Bishop  of  Pennsylvania.  Pushing  on  southward,  Coke 
and  his  two  companions  came  on  November  14,  ten 
days  after  their  debarkation  at  New  York,  to  Barrett's 
Chapel,  a  country  preaching  place  where  the  famous 
meeting  between  Coke  and  Asbury  occurred. 

Asbury  had  learned  of  Dr.  Coke's  arrival  and  also 
of  his  southern  progress,  and  had  set  out  to  meet  him. 


I20  Francis  Asbnry. 

Barrett's  Chapel  was  a  brick  structure,  and  the  most 
pretentious  country  meetinghouse  of  the  Methodists 
in  America.  It  was  Sunday,  and  the  occasion  of  a 
quarteny  meeting.  ''A  noble  congregation"  was  pres- 
ent, additional  advertising  having  been  done  when  it 
was  discovered  that  so  distinguished  a  preacher  was 
to  be  present.  When  Asbury  reached  the  chapel,  the 
service  was  already  well  advanced,  so  that  he  had  no 
opportunity  to  speak  to  Dr.  Coke  until  the  conclusion 
of  the  sermon.  The  communion  was  celebrated,  and 
Asbury  was  greatly  surprised  to  see  Whatcoat,  v/hom 
he  supposed  to  be  only  a  lay  preacher,  take  the  cup  in 
the  administration.  When  the  service  was  over,  a 
memorable  scene  occurred,  which  is  effectively  de- 
scribed in  Coke's  own  words:  ''After  the  sermon  a 
plain,  robust  man  came  up  to  me  in  the  pulpit,  and 
kissed  me.  I  thought  it  could  be  no  other  than  Mr. 
Asbury,  and  in  this  I  was  not  deceived."  An  eyev/it- 
ness  says  that  the  other  preachers  were  melted  by  the 
scene  ''into  sweet  sympathy  and  tears,"  and  that  the 
whole  assembly,  as  if  struck  "with  a  shock  of  heav- 
enly electricity,  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears." 

Coke  and  Asbur}^  were  entertained  together  at  the 
Barrett  home,  not  above  a  mile  from  the  chapel,  where, 
as  soon  as  they  were  in  private,  Coke  opened  the  nature 
of  his  mission.  This  was  simply  to  ordain  Asbury  to 
the  episcopacy  that  they  might  thereafter  ordain  the 
preachers,  or  so  many  as  might  be  necessary  to  supply 
the  ordinances  to  the  societies,  and  that  the  whole  work 
m.ight  have  a  scriptural  basis  and  a  scripturally  consti- 
tuted superintendency.  Neither  Wesley  nor  Coke  had 
provided  beyond  this  for  the  organization  of  a  Church, 
showing  how  much  had  been  trusted  to  the  judgment 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  121 

and  initiative  of  Asbury.  He  met  the  exigency  with- 
out hesitation.  Indeed,  although  he  had  but  an  imper- 
fect understanding  of  Coke's  instructions,  he  had  al- 
ready provided  for  a  council  of  preachers  to  receive 
and  pass  upon  the  matters  submitted.  When  Dr.  Coke 
opened  to  him  the  plan  of  a  joint  super intendency  and 
the  ordinations,  he  was  at  first  shocked,  the  departure 
being  so  radically  contradictory  of  his  preconceived 
High-church  notions.  He  determined  at  the  outset  to 
do  nothing  without  the  consent  and  votes  of  the  preach- 
ers ;  and  most  of  all  was  he  determined  not  to  accept 
the  general  superintendency  without  election  by  the 
whole  body  of  his  fellow-itinerants. 

A  council  was  accordingly  called,  and  the  letter"^  of 

*The  text  of  this  famous  letter  follows — viz : 

"Bristol,  September   10,    1784. 
"To    Dr.    Coke,    Mr.    Asbury,    and    Our   Brethren    in   North 
America. 

"By  a  very  uncommon  train  of  providences  many  of  the 
provinces  of  North  America  are  totally  disjoined  from  the 
mother  country  and  erected  into  independent  States.  The 
English  government  has  no  authority  over  them,  either  civil 
or  ecclesiastical,  any  more  than  over  the  States  of  Holland. 
A  civil  authority  is  exercised  over  them,  partly  by  the  Con- 
gress, partly  by  the  provincial  assemblies.  But  no  one  either 
exercises  or  claims  any  ecclesiastical  authority  at  all.  In  this 
peculiar  situation  some  thousands  of  the  inhabitants  of  these 
States  desire  my  advice,  and  in  compliance  with  their  desire  I 
have  drawn  up  a  little  sketch. 

"Lord  King's  account  of  the  primitive  Church  convinced 
me  many  years  ago  that  bishops  and  presbyters  are  the  same 
order,  and  consequently  have  the  same  right  to  ordain.  For 
many  years  I  have  been  importuned  from  time  to  time  to 
exercise  this  right  by  ordaining  part  of  our  traveling  preach- 
ers.    But  I  have  still  refused  not  only  for  peace's  sake,  but 


122  Francis  Ashiiry. 

Mr.  Wesley  and  the  statement  of  his  legate  were  laid 
before  it.  The  decision  was  that  a  general  Conference 
should  be  called  to  convene  in  Baltimore  at  Christmas- 
tide.  Freeborn  Garrettson  was  commissioned  to  sum- 
mon the  hosts  for  the  moot.  Riding  north  and  south, 
he  spread  the  call  so  widely  that  long  before  the  time 
appointed  every  itinerant  in  America,  w^ith  possibly  a 
single  exception,  had  heard.  That  exception  was  Jesse 
Lee,  who  was  laboring  in  the  far  South. 

In  the  meantime  Asbury  planned  extensive  preach- 
ing itineraries  for  himself  and  Dr.  Coke  during  the 
six  weeks  that  remained  before  the  Conference  should 
sit.  Fitting  Dr.  Coke  out  with  a  horse,  he  added 
"Black  Harry,"  his  own  servant,  a  negro  lay  preacher, 
who,  though  ignorant  of  letters,  was  famous  for  native 

because  I  was  determined  as  little  as  possible  to  violate  the 
established  order  of  the  national  Church,  to  which  I  belonged. 

"But  the  case  is  widely  different  between  England  and 
North  America.  Here  are  bishops  who  have  a  legal  jurisdic- 
tion. In  America  there  are  none,  neither  any  parish  ministers ; 
so  that  for  some  hundreds  of  miles  together  there  is  none 
either  to  baptize  or  administer  the  Lord's  Supper.  Here, 
therefore,  my  scruples  are  at  an  end,  and  I  conceive  myself 
at  full  liberty,  as  I  violate  no  order  and  invade  no  man's 
right,  by  appointing  and  sending  laborers  into  the  harvest. 

"I  have  accordingly  appointed  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Francis 
Asbury  to  be  joint  superintendents  over  our  brethren  in 
North  America,  as  also  Richard  Whatcoat  and  Thomas  Vasey 
to  act  as  elders  among  them  by  baptizing  and  administering 
the  Lord's  Supper.  And  I  have  prepared  a  liturgy,  little  dif- 
fering from  that  of  the  Church  of  England  (I  think  the  best 
constituted  national  Church  in  the  world),  which  I  advise  all 
the  traveling  preachers  to  use  on  the  Lord's  day  in  all  the 
congregations,  reading  the  litany  only  on  Wednesdays  and 
Fridays  and  praying  extempore  on  all  other  days.     I  also  ad- 


A}i  Apostle  by  Proof.  123 

eloquence  and  a  correct  knowledge  of  the  way  of  sal- 
vation. In  this  manner  the  first  Protestant  bishop  of 
the  New  World  traveled  over  a  large  part  of  his  dio- 
cese, preaching,  baptizing,  and  administering  the  sacra- 
ment of  the  Holy  Communion  to  the  people  so  long 
deprived  of  the  ordinances.  He  was  received  every- 
where with  enthusiasm  and  hospitality.  The  homes 
of  the  great  people  were  opened  to  him,  and  multitudes 
thronged  to  hear  his  fervent  and  powerful  sermons. 
He  himself  estimates  that  on  this  tour  he  baptized  more 
people  than  he  would  likely  have  baptized  in  a  curacy 
in  England  during  a  lifetime.  For  his  own  part  As- 
bury  claimed  during  much  of  the  tour  planned  for 
himself  the  companionship  of  Whatcoat  and  Vasey. 
As  he  journeyed  his  mind  was  engaged  with  the  busi- 

vise  the  elders  to  administer  the  Supper  of  the  Lord  on  every 
Lord's  day. 

"If  any  one  will  point  out  a  more  rational  and  scriptural 
way  of  feeding  and  guiding  these  poor  sheep  in  the  wilder- 
ness, I  will  gladly  embrace  it.  At  present  I  cannot  see  any 
better  method  than  that  I  have  taken. 

"It  has  indeed  been  proposed  to  desire  the  English  bishops 
to  ordain  part  of  our  preachers  for  America.  But  to  this  I 
object:  i.  I  desired  the  Bishop  of  London  to  ordain  one,  but 
could  not  prevail.  2.  If  they  consented,  we  know  the  slowness 
of  their  proceedings;  but  the  matter  admits  of  no  delay.  3. 
If  they  would  ordain  them  now,  they  would  expect  to  govern 
them.  And  how  grievously  would  this  entangle  us !  4.  As 
our  American  brethren  are  now  totally  disentangled,  both  from 
the  State  and  the  English  hierarchy,  we  dare  not  entangle 
them  again  either  with  the  one  or  the  other.  They  are  now 
at  full  liberty  simply  to  follow  the  Scriptures  and  the  primi- 
tive Church.  And  we  judge  it  best  that  they  should  stand  fast 
in  that  liberty  wherewith  God  has  so  strangely  made  them 
free.  John  Wesley."' 


124  Francis  Asbury. 

ness  so  soon  to  come  up  in  the  Conference.  The 
preachers  he  found  everywhere  were  pleased  with  the 
plan  proposed.  Why  should  they  not  be  pleased  ?  Was 
it  not  the  very  course  from  which  a  majority  of  them 
had  been  estopped  in  1780?  The  time  also  came  when 
Asbury  himself  could  say:  'T  am  led  to  think  it  is  of 
the  Lord."  But  he  was  ''not  tickled  with  the  honor 
to  be  gained ;"  he  feared  there  might  be  "danger  in  the 
way." 

During  the  month  of  December  the  lines  of  the  two 
itineraries  crossed  several  times,  and  the  General  Su- 
perintendent and  his  prospective  associate  had  more 
than  one  interview  touching  their  concerns.  The  most 
important  of  these  junctions  occurred  at  Abingdon, 
in  the  State  of  Maryland,  where  it  was  decided  the 
first  Methodist  college  in  America  should  be  built. 
Dr.  Coke  was  driven  thither  in  the  coach  of  Mr.  Rich- 
ard Dallam,  a  planter,  who  was  in  sympathy  with  the 
Methodists.  Asbury  had  already  broached  the  idea  01 
such  an  institution,  and  the  land  for  the  same  had 
been  secured.  It  was  now  definitely  agreed  that  it  was 
to  be  called  Cokesbury  College  in  honor  of  the  two 
superintendents,  and  to  raise  money  for  its  erection 
and  endowment  was  to  be  am.ongst  their  first  official 
undertakings. 

At  each  successive  meeting  of  Coke  and  Asbury  the 
reserved  and  self-taught  pioneer  grew  upon  the  college- 
bred  Churchman  and  ecclesiastical  diplomat.  In  his 
journal  Coke  wrote :  "I  exceedingly  reverence  Mr.  As- 
bury ;  he  has  so  much  wisdom  and  consideration,  so 
much  meekness  and  love;  and  under  all  this,  though 
hardly  to  be  perceived,  so  much  command  and  author- 
itv."  ' 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  125 

On  December  17  Coke  and  Asbury  met  at  "Perry 
Hall/'  that  ever  serene  retreat,  and  completed  their 
plans  for  the  Conference.  Dr.  Coke  speaks  of  the 
"noble  room"  provided  for  him  and  of  his  week's  stay 
in  that  hospitable  mansion.  Whatcoat  joined  them  on 
the  19th,  and  the  next  day  they  began  the  revision  of 
the  "Rules  and  Minutes" — that  is,  the  adaptation  of 
the  "Large  Minutes"  of  the  English  Conference  to  the 
needs  of  the  soon-to-be-organized  American  Church. 
With  such  recensions  of  the  Wesleyan  categories  As- 
bury was  already  familiar;  so  the  three  made  satisfac- 
tory progress. 

The  Conference  began  its  sittings  in  Lovely  Lane 
Chapel,  Baltimore,  on  December  24,  at  ten  o'clock  in 
the  morning.  Dr.  Coke  took  the  chair,  and  directed 
the  opening  services,  which  were  simple  and  impress- 
ive. It  is  believed  that  about  sixty  of  the  more  than 
ninety  American  preachers  were  present.  Some  were 
prevented  from  attending  by  the  floods  and  snows, 
Vvdiile  others  received  the  notice  too  late  to  cover  the 
distances  that  separated  them  from  the  meeting  place. 
Several  lists  of  the  personnel  of  the  Conference  have 
been  compiled,  but  none  is  believed  to  be  complete. 
The  detailed  official  records  of  the  session  are  not  ex- 
tant, but  the  order  of  procedure  has  been  established 
from  the  printed  minutes  and  the  book  of  Discipline 
of  1785,  and  from  other  sources. 

On  Friday,  the  24th,  w^as  read  the  official  letter  of 
aIt.  Wesley.  This  letter,  which  has  already  been  re- 
ferred to  as  the  Magna  Charta  of  American  ■Metho- 
dism, reviewed  in  order  the  rise  of  the  American  re- 
public, the  consequent  dissolution  of  the  Church  es- 
tablishment in  the  former  Colonies,  and  the  fact  that 


126    .  Francis  Asbury. 

Wesley  had  been  appealed  to  by  the  Methodists  in  the 
new  republic  for  advice  and  help.  It  then  cited  the 
authority  which  had  convinced  Wesley  of  his  right  to 
ordain,  following  upon  which  was  announced  the  ap- 
pointment of  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Asbury  to  be  joint 
superintendents,  and  Mr.  Whatcoat  and  Mr.  \'asey  to 
act  as  elders  in  connection  with  the  work  in  America. 
Concluding  with  a  friendly  challenge  and  a  brief  sum- 
mary, the  letter  commits  the  societies  ''simply  to  fol- 
low the  Scriptures  and  the  primitive  Church." 

After  the  reading  of  this  letter  discussion  of  the  title 
and  organization  of  the  new  Church  Vv^as  begun,  and 
"without  agitation"  these  matters  were  brought  to  a 
satisfactory  issue  at  the  afternoon  session.  As  Mr. 
Wesley  had  expressed  his  preference  for  an  "episco- 
pally  governed  Church,"  it  was  decided  to  call  the  new 
organization  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  "making 
the  episcopal  office  elective  and  the  elected  superintend- 
ent or  bishop  amenable  to  the  body  of  ministers  and 
preachers." 

On  Saturday,  the  25th,  a  vote  was  taken  on  the 
question  of  the  election  of  Dr.  Coke  and  Mr.  Asbury 
to  the  superintendency.  The  vote  being  affirmative, 
Mr.  Asbury  was  on  the  same  day  ordained  by  Dr.  Coke 
to  the  diaconate,  the  function  being  attended  with 
preaching  and  an  appropriate  ritual.  On  Sunday,  the 
26th,  he  was  made  an  elder  by  the  imposition  of  the 
same  hands,  and  on  Monday  he  was  formally  conse- 
crated a  bishop  or  general  superintendent.  These  of- 
fices were  simple  and  unostentatious,  but  as  historic 
events  they  have  acquired  an  extraordinary  signifi- 
cance. In  the  episcopal  consecration  of  Asbury  Dr. 
Coke   was  assisted  by  his   two  presbyter  associates. 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  127 

Richard  Whatcoat  and  Thomas  Vasey,  and  also  by  the 
Rev.  WilHam  Philip  Otterbein,  Asbury's  close  and 
faithful  friend. 

Three  days,  Tuesday,  Wednesday,  and  Thursday, 
were  mainly  taken  up  with  the  work  of  passing  upon 
revisions  of  the  English  Minutes  and  the  framing 
therefrom  of  a  Discipline  for  the  use  of  the  new 
Church.  These  actions  included  the  adoption  of  the 
revised  Prayer  Book,  or  "Sunday  Service,"  as  it  was 
called,  which  Wesley  had  prepared  and  printed  for  the 
use  of  the  American  societies.  In  addition  to  the 
abridged  Anglican  liturgy  and  else  this  book  contained 
the  original  Twenty-Four  Wesleyan  Articles  of  Reli- 
gion, an  abridgment  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  of 
the  Anglican  Confession.  The  Conference  added  an 
article,  *'Of  the  Rulers  of  the  United  States  of  Amer- 
ica,"* which  is  XXIII.  of  our  Confession,  thus  mak- 
ing the  number  twenty-five ;  hence  "the  Twenty-Five 
Articles." 

This  work  ended,  the  Conference  proceeded  to  the 
election  of  a  number  of  the  preachers  to  serve  in  the 
offices  of  deacon  and  elder.  Dr.  Coke  testifies  that  these 
elections  were  conducted  with  great  impartiality,  with- 
out show  of  self-seeking  on  the  part  of  the  preachers, 
all  of  whom  were  young  men  and  men  who  had  barely 
reached  middle  life.  Asbury's  journal  says  that  twelve 
elders  were  elected,  but  the  number  appears  to  have 
been  even  larger.  The  title  of  ''presiding  elder"  did  not 

*This  Article  was  subsequently  amended,  and  a  vote  is  being 
taken  this  year  (1909)  in  the  Southern  Conferences  for  a 
further  amendment,  so  as  to  adapt  it  to  use  in  lands  where  the 
Church  has  mission  fields. 


128  Francis  Asbury. 

then  come  into  use ;  but  these  elders  were,  it  was  un- 
derstood, to  be  located  with  reference  to  groups  of 
societies  or  circuits  so  as  to  give  the  sacraments  to  the 
people  and  complete  the  plan  for  a  general  oversight 
of  the  work.  The  presiding  eldership  is  thus  integrant 
in  the  polity  of  episcopal  Methodism.  It  is  an  essen- 
tial part  of  the  episcopacy,  which  is  not  so  much  an 
office  as  an  idea.  The  episcopacy  does  not  inhere  in 
a  personal  incumbent,  but  in  an  episcopal  body  con- 
sisting of  the  general  superintendents,  or  bishops,  and 
the  district  superintendents,  or  presiding  elders.  The 
office  of  presiding  elder  had  its  genesis  in  the  ordina- 
tion by  Mr.  Wesley  of  Whatcoat  and  Vasey  to  serve 
with  Coke  in  America.  They  were  not  called  presiding 
elders,  neither  was  Coke  styled  a  bishop.  At  that  time 
Mr.  Wesley  had  but  a  general  notion  as  to  the  shape 
the  government  of  the  Church  in  America  would  take. 
It  is  certain  that  the  episcopacy  took  a  somewhat  dif- 
ferent shape  from  that  which  he  contem.plated ;  but  the 
norm  of  our  episcopacy  is  his  consecration  of  Thomas 
Coke.  Likewise  was  there  a  definite  officiality  implied 
in  the  setting  apart  of  Whatcoat  and  Vasey  to  the  eld- 
ership. Their  investiture  was  the  complement  of  Mr. 
Wesley's  idea  of  a  general  superintendency. 

The  American  Conference  emphasized  the  officiality 
of  the  superintendency  by  electing  both  Coke  and  As- 
bury by  a  majority  vote.  At  the  same  time  the  Con- 
ference elected  certain  m.en  to  the  eldership  with  the 
understanding  that  they  were  not  only  to  administer 
the  ordinances,  but  were  to  be  superintendents  of  dis- 
tricts or  groups  of  circuits.  It  is  true  that  the  official 
duties  of  the  "superintendent  elders"  were  fev/  and 
simple,  but  so  were  also  the  official  duties  of  the  bish- 


An  Apostle  by  Proof.  129 

ops.  The  responsibilities  of  both  offices  increased  rap- 
idly and  in  a  direction  that  was  not  clearly  foreseen  at 
the  beginning.  This  was  that  logical  and  providential 
development  which  marks  the  fitness  of  the  comple- 
menting offices. 

The  Conference  had  thus  in  the  space  of  a  single 
week  rounded  the  outlines  of  and  set  upon  its  historic 
way  the  most  extraordinary  and  effective  Church  or- 
ganization of  modern  times.  On  Friday  a  number  of 
deacons  were  ordained,  and  on  Saturday,  January  i, 
1785,  the  question  of  the  college  at  Abingdon  v\'as  con- 
sidered, voted  upon  favorably,  and  a  subscription  was 
taken  for  the  same.  On  Sunday,  January  2,  twelve 
preachers,  previously  ordained  deacons,  were  ordained 
to  the  eldership,  and  on  Monday,  January  3,  "the  Con- 
ference ended  in  great  peace  and  unanimity." 
9 


CHAPTER   XI. 
Pledging  History. 

It  was  now  General  Superintendent  Asbury.  But 
the  simplicity  of  the  man  of  unworldly  ideals  and  pur- 
poses was  unaffected  by  the  new  dignity.  If  there  was 
a  rising  of  pride  or  self-gratulation,  it  was  quickly 
repressed.  A  characteristic  introspection  came  with 
the  quiet  which  succeeded  the  haste  and  labors  of  the 
Conference.  Concerning  the  feelings  revealed  by  that 
inquisition  he  wrote :  "My  mind  was  unsettled,  and  I 
was  but  low  in  my  own  testimony."  Five  days  later 
he  made  this  entry  in  his  journal :  "I  am  sometimes 
afraid  of  being  led  to  think  something  more  of  myself 
in  my  new  station  than  formerly."  The  preventive 
against  an  assertion  of  self  was  to  dedicate  himself  to 
be  more  than  ever  the  servant  of  his  brethren. 
"  But  to  one  impulse  born  of  his  new  relation  he  gave 
the  freest  rein — a  hunger  for  wider  conquests  and  a 
more  rapid  spread  of  the  gospel.  What  had  been  be- 
fore but  a  hope  became  now  a  plan  for  immediate 
realization.  Even  before  the  close  of  the  Christmas 
Conference  he  had  cast  his  eyes  southward  and  south- 
westward  to  the  very  limits  of  the  continent,  and  out- 
lined his  first  episcopal  tour  on  a  scale  commensurate 
with  his  expanded  vision.  He  had  already,  three  years 
before,  penetrated  North  Carolina  and  planted  stations 
in  the  fertile  valleys  of  its  great  rivers,  and  even  be- 
yond the  crests  of  its  intersecting  mountains.  Now  he 
determined  to  ride  beyond  the  farthest  Methodist  out- 
posts and  come  to  those  parts  in  South  Carolina  and 
(130) 


Pledging  History.  131 

Georgia  that  had  known,  nearly  fifty  years  before,  the 
labors  of  ''the  Oxford  Methodists."  Charleston  and 
even  Savannah  were  objectives  in  the  plan  of  this  first 
episcopal  circuit. 

The  Christmas  Conference  adjourned  at  noon  Janu- 
ary 3,  and  on  the  evening  of  that  day  Asbury  preached 
the  first  sermon  after  his  ordination.  The  next  day 
he  took  the  saddle.  Dr.  Coke  was  to  go  immediately 
to  New  York  to  superintend  the  printing  of  the  offi- 
cial Minutes  of  the  Conference  and  the  new  Form  of 
Discipline — the  first  of  those  unique  and  potent  little 
volumes  that  have  had  so  large  a  place  in  the  rever- 
ence of  millions  of  Americans. 

The  initial  stage  of  Asbury 's  journey  carried  him 
into  central  Virginia,  where  he  performed  his  first 
episcopal  office,  the  ordination  to  the  diaconate  of  Rev. 
Henry  Willis.  Willis  had  been  in  charge  of  the  work 
in  the  Holston  Valley.  He  had  been  elected  to  the 
eldership  by  the  Christmas  Conference,  but  was  una- 
ble to  reach  the  place  of  meeting.  From  this  point 
Asbury  drafted  him  to  be  his  traveling  companion,  and 
ten  days  later,  at  a  church  near  the  North  Carolina 
line,  ordained  him  a  presbyter. 

Services  were  held  by  the  General  Superintendent 
almost  daily,  and  at  these  the  ordinances  were  admin- 
istered. Hundreds  of  infants  and  adults  were  bap- 
tized, and  the  people  long  without  the  communion  were 
made  glad  to  receive  the  bread  and  wine  at  the  hands 
of  their  own  chief  minister.  Asbury  at  this  time  wore 
in  the  administrations  and  when  discoursing  the  gown 
and  bands  of  a  presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England, 
and  used  the  abridged  Prayer  Book.  This  conformity 
was  grateful  to  ''the  old  Church  folks"— that  is,  the 


132  Francis  Asbury. 

former  Anglicans,  who  then  constituted  the  great  body 
of  American  Methodists.  The  cathohc-spirited  Pres- 
byterians also  welcomed  the  Methodist  overseer,  and, 
being  largely  destitute  of  pastoral  attention,  gladly  re- 
ceived the  ordinances  at  his  hands.  With  the  immer- 
sionists  it  was  different;  they  demiurred.  In  a  spirit 
of  conciliation,  Asbury  began  to  plunge  such  candi- 
dates for  baptism  as  preferred  that  mode ;  but  before 
the  end  of  the  3-ear  the  practice  was  discontinued. 

On  February  10  Asbury  and  his  chaplain  (so  we 
may  describe  Willis)  reached  Salisbury,  where  the  in- 
domitable Jesse  Lee  was  in  charge.  The  gowns  and 
bands  displeased  him  greatly,  and  he  satirized  the  in- 
novation so  mercilessly  that  Asbury  abandoned  it,  and, 
it  is  claimed,  never  again  appeared  in  public  arrayed 
in  any  character  of  canonical  frippery.  Only  a  little 
while,  in  fact,  did  the  Prayer  Book  foible  obtain.  Nei- 
ther it  nor  the  surplice  was  suited  to  the  homely  and 
impromptu  spirit  of  American  Methodism.  Ritualism 
is  a  historic  sign  of  spiritual  decadence,  and  IMethodism 
had  then  the  dew  of  its  youth. 

From  Salisbury  Lee  accompanied  the  General  Super- 
intendent and  his  traveling  companion  into  South  Car- 
olina. Passing  through  the  Cheraws,  they  reached  the 
sea  at  Georgetown,  from  which  pohit  they  passed  along 
the  coast  toward  Charleston,  w^here  they  arrived  on 
February  24.  Somewhat  more  than  two  weeks  were 
spent  in  the  Southern  metropolis,  whose  people  Asbury 
found  to  be  proud  and  religiously  indifferent.  Never- 
theless, the  gospel  which  he  and  his  two  helpers  pro- 
claimed made  *'a  gracious  impression"  upon  some,  es- 
pecially upon  the  family  of  Mr.  Wells,  a  prosperous 
merchant  of  the  place,  whose  guests  they  were  during 


Pledging  History.  133 

their  stay.  The  seeds  were  sown ;  a  society  was  organ- 
ized later,  and  placed  under  the  charge  of  Elder  Willis, 
and  Charleston  became  from  that  day  one  of  the  im- 
portant posts  of  Methodism. 

From  Charleston  the  northward  course  returned 
through  Georgetown,  where  a  station  was  also  estab- 
lished, and  where  Woolam  Hickson,  "a.  man  of  brilliant 
genius  and  fine  enthusiasm/'  was  put  in  charge.  This 
remarkable  man  died  a  year  or  two  later  of  consump- 
tion. Wilmington  was  visited  on  March  19,  and  on 
April  20  Asbury  and  Lee  reached  Green  Hill's,  on  Tar 
River,  in  North  Carolina.  Green  Hill  was  a  wealthy 
planter,  a  slaveholder,  and  a  local  Methodist  preacher. 
His  position  was  an  anomalous  one  in  view  of  the 
Methodist  rule  in  force  at  that  time ;  but  he  was  a 
man  of  God,  and  wrought  and  hoped  for  the  perfect 
coming  of  the  kingdom.  In  after  years  he  migrated 
to  the  Cumberland  Valley  and  helped  to  plant  and  sup- 
port Methodism  in  that  Eden  of  Middle  Tennessee. 
At  the  Conference  held  in  the  spring  of  1784  one  of 
the  three  sittings  appointed  for  1785  was  designated 
to  meet  at  his  house.  The  date  in  the  Minutes  is  April 
29;  but  the  session  occurred  nine  days  earlier.  This 
was  to  accommodate  Dr.  Coke,  who  was  present  and 
presided ;  while  Asbury  stationed  the  preachers,  which 
he  uniformly  did,  Dr.  Coke  deferring  to  his  superior 
knowledge  of  the  men  and  the  field. 

This  Conference,  which  has  the  distinction  of  being 
the  first  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church 
after  its  organization,  was  held,  according  to  appoint- 
ment, in  Rev.  Green  Hill's  house,  which  was  spacious 
and  comfortable.  The  entire  membership  of  the  Con- 
ference, including  the  two  General  Superintendents  and 


134  Francis  Asbitry. 

about  twenty  preachers  from  North  Carohna  and  Vir- 
ginia, were  entertained  under  the  same  hospitable  roof. 
The  results  of  Asbury's  tour  are  seen  in  the  appoint- 
ments made  at  this  Conference,  such  circuits  as  New 
River,  Camden,  Georgetown,  Charleston,  and  Georgia 
appearing  in  the  list  for  the  first  time.  Beverly  Allen 
was  the  man  to  whom  "all  Georgia"  was  given  for  a 
field.  Alas  that  one  who  for  a  time  was  permitted  to 
hold  in  the  hollow  of  his  hand  the  spiritual  possibilities 
of  a  commonwealth  should  have  ended  his  career  so 
meanly !  But  thus  was  history  pledged  in  those  begin- 
ning days.  Thus  in  that  then  remote  Southwest  was 
started  the  cause  which  through  a  century  and  a 
quarter  has  grown  mightily  in  the  records  of  the 
kingdom. 

Ten  days  later  the  two  General  Superintendents  at- 
tended together  the  Conference  sitting  in  Virginia. 
The  question  of  slavery  was  uppermost  with  the  Meth- 
odists at  this  time,  the  occasion  being  a  petition  which 
the  Conference  was  to  send  to  the  \'irginia  State  As- 
sembly, asking  for  the  immediate  or  gradual  emancipa- 
tion of  the  slaves.  It  was  agreed  at  the  Virginia  ses- 
sion that  Coke  and  Asbury  should  visit  General  Wash- 
ington and  solicit  his  aid  in  presenting  this  document. 
On  May  26  they  were  courteously  received  and  dined 
at  Mount  Vernon.  Washington  readily  gave  them  his 
opinion  on  slavery,  which  was  deprecatory ;  but  he 
declined  to  sign  the  petition.  This  appears  to  have 
been  the  end  of  the  scheme,  and  at  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference, which  occurred  one  week  later,  the  minute 
on  slavery  was  temporarily  suspended.  The  temperate 
judgment  of  Washington  on  this  question,  expressed 
at  a  crucial  hour,  proved  to  be  of  immense  advantage 


Pledging  History.  135 

to  Methodism.  Profiting  by  his  views,  which  were 
practically  those  of  the  Methodists  of  the  South  so  long 
as  slavery  continued  to  be  an  institution,  the  Church 
entered  upon  an  era  of  soberer  legislation  than  had 
been  in  contemplation,  and  thus  was  left  unhampered 
in  its  ministry  to  both  master  and  slave. 

With  the  opening  of  the  Baltimore  Conference  As- 
bury  completed  his  first  official  round  as  General  Su- 
perintendent. For  the  distance  traveled,  the  labors 
accomplished,  and  the  variety  of  offices  performed,  it 
was  by  far  the  most  considerable  and  important  single 
round  he  had  ever  made.  But,  as  his  after  experiences 
proved,  it  was  but  the  beginning  of  miracles  in  this 
line.  With  the  close  of  the  Conference,  Dr.  Coke  took 
leave  of  the  brethren  in  America,  and  sailed  for  En- 
gland to  meet  the  criticisms  of  both  Methodists  and 
Churchmen  when  he  arrived.  The  people  in  and  out 
of  the  Establishment  who  at  this  time  understood  the 
merits  of  Wesley's  plan  for  the  settlement  of  Ameri- 
can Methodism  could  have  been  counted  upon  the  fin- 
gers of  the  Founder's  two  hands.  But  Coke  saw 
enough  with  his  own  eyes  while  in  America  to  give 
him  a  confidence  that  no  amiount  of  misjudgm.ent  could 
shake. 

Asbury  was  again  alone  in  the  headship  of  the 
Church.  He  also  had  upon  his  hands  most  of  the 
problems  which  he  had  before  Coke's  coming,  and 
not  a  few  new  ones.  Among  the  latter  none  was  more 
difficult  than  that  of  the  projected  college  at  Cokes- 
bury.  A  century  and  a  quarter  has  shown  that  the 
building  and  endowing  of  a  denominational  college 
is  an  undertaking  for  men  of  the  will  and  endurance 
of  giants.    Before  Coke's  coming  Asbury  had  planned 


136  Francis  Asbiiry. 

a  school  like  KIngswood,  in  England ;  but  Coke  wanted 
a  college.  The  faith  and  intellectual  responsiveness  of 
Asbury  embraced  at  once  the  idea  of  his  collegian  as- 
sociate, not  dreaming  of  the  unrewarded  toils  and  baf- 
fled hopes  for  which  it  was  to  stand  in  his  life. 

In  June  following  the  session  of  the  Christmas  Con- 
ference the  foundations  of  the  college  building  were 
laid,  and  Asbury  preached  at  the  commemoration.  This 
sermon,  delivered  in  the  hot  and  open  summer  air,  com- 
pleted a  collapse  upon  the  verge  of  which  he  had  been 
trembling  for  some  time.  The  invalidism  which  fol- 
lowed forced  upon  him  a  season  of  rest,  which  he 
spent  partly  at  "Perry  Hall"  and  parth-  at  the  Ameri- 
can Bath,  the  famous  warm  springs  of  Virginia.  Being 
in  a  good  degree  recovered  by  midsummer,  he  was 
again  active,  but  for  the  remainder  of  the  year  con- 
fined himself  mainly  to  journeys  in  the  Peninsula  and 
contiguous  parts. 

The  order  and  arrangement  of  the  lately  published 
Form  of  Discipline  became  about  this  time  a  matter 
of  criticism.  On  account  of  its  lack  of  heads  and  di- 
visions the  usefulness  of  the  volume  was  greatly  les- 
sened. This  defect  Asbury  set  himself  to  remedy,  and 
out  of  his  work  has  grown  that  order  of  sections,  para- 
graphs, and  indices  that  make  the  present-day  Disci- 
pline an  open  book  to  the  most  inexperienced  under- 
graduate in  the  ministry. 

The  first  Conference  for  1786  was  to  be  held  at 
Salisbury,  in  February,  and  the  journey  thither  was 
begun  soon  after  New  Year's.  The  advance  was  in  a 
course  crudely  conforming  to  a  great  half  circle,  with 
Charleston  on  the  outer  plane  of  the  arc.  To  detail 
the  experiences  of  that  long  horseback  ride  across  three 


Pledging  History.  137 

commonwealths  and  back  in  midwinter  would  be  to 
repeat  details  already  made  familiar  in  this  narrative. 
But  commonplace  as  they  were,  they  played  their  part 
in  a  great  apostolic  plan.  The  sermons,  private  ap- 
peals, oversight,  and  spyings-out  of  vantages  for  fu- 
ture stations  were  like  golden  v/heat  grains  cast  in 
amongst  the  snow  crystals  and  ice  shards  of  a  winter 
field  to  w^ake  and  fruit  in  after  days.  It  was  by  such 
ploddings  and  toilings  as  these  that  the  empire  of 
Methodism  was  built  up. 

In  Asbury's  journal  of  this  year  mention  is  made  of 
a  ''Book  Concern."  This  infant  enterprise  was  under 
the  care  of  John  Dickins,  an  Etonian,  of  whose  capa- 
bilities and  attainments  mention  has  already  been  made. 
This  norm  of  vast  and  varied  publishing  interests  to- 
day was  at  first  simply  a  depository  in  one  room  of  the 
preacher's  house  in  Philadelphia  for  the  few  books. 
Disciplines,  hymn  books,  Wesleyan  standards,  tracts, 
etc.,  which  were  in  demand  amongst  the  Methodists. 
But  even  at  this  time  Asbury  mentions  that  a  collection 
was  taken  under  that  head. 

Another  principal  idea  of  Methodist  propagandism 
began  also  to  take  root  about  this  time.  On  April  30, 
1786,  Asbury  called  for  a  public  collection  to  provide 
funds  for  "sending  missionaries  to  the  Western  settle- 
ments." In  the  simple  means  employed  for  handling 
and  directing  this  collection  is  seen  the  remote  parent- 
age of  the  many  missionary  societies  of  American 
Methodism,  receiving  and  disbursing  in  the  twentieth 
century  millions  of  dollars  yearly  for  the  evangeliza- 
tion of  the  Vv^orld. 

Asbury  was  now  greatly  cheered  with  the  outlook 
of  the  Church.     Not  only  the  day  of  its  liberation,  but 


138  Francis  Asbiiry. 

the  day  of  its  entering  into  heritage  seemed  to  have 
come.  With  one  accord  the  people  hailed  the  new 
order.  Church-building  became  general^  the  revival 
was  spreading,  and  churchly  enterprises  of  many  sorts 
were  taking  shape.  The  new  Discipline  was  working 
as  though  it  had  had  a  century  of  testing.  The  Meth- 
odist spirit  was  winning  along  with  the  spirit  of  the 
new  nation.  Prophecy  occluded  in  the  labors  of  the 
homely  band  of  Methodist  itinerants.  They  published 
their  message  daily  "in  the  face  of  the  sun." 

The  Baltimore  session — the  determinative  and  law- 
making council — opened  on  May  8  at  Abingdon.  It 
had  been  hoped  to  sit  in  the  college ;  but  alas !  the  walls 
were  now  "only  fit  for  covering,"  and  a  debt  of  more 
than  four  thousand  dollars  had  already  accumulated. 
That  was  an  incubus  indeed.  "And  money  is  scarce !" 
sighed  the  weary  Asbury  as  he  remembered  his  toils 
past  and  his  toils  yet  to  come.  It  was  enough  to  dis- 
comfit the  most  intrepid.  As  for  Asbury,  his  training 
did  not  answer  to  the  task,  and  for  it  he  had  no  zest. 
He  was  a  preacher,  a  kingdom  builder,  and  not  a  money 
raiser  or  a  college  agent.  Yet  in  these  things  he  also 
laid  a  foundation. 

Sixty  circuits  were  listed  this  year  against  forty-six 
at  the  time  of  the  Christmas  Conference.  In  the  ap- 
pointments for  the  year  appears  for  the  first  time  the 
romantic  name,  "Kentucky."  This  w^as  one  of  those 
"Western  Settlements"  for  which  the  first  regularly 
collected  missionary  money  of  the  Church  was  appro- 
priated. In  the  year  of  the  Christmas  Conference  fif- 
teen thousand  members,  wdth  ninety-three  preachers, 
had  been  reported;  while  at  the  Conferences  of  this 
year  (1786)  the  returns  had  credited  to  the  connection 


Pledging  History.  139 

more  than  twenty  thousand  members  and  one  hundred 
and  seventeen  pastors. 

The  most  noteworthy  experience  of  Asbury  during 
the  remaining  months  of  this  year  was  a  ride  across 
the  Alleghanies  to  a  point  on  the  Ohio  River,  where  he 
went  to  satisfy  himself  of  the  prospects  in  that  then 
most  western  west  of  America.  As  he  went  out  he 
overrode  the  western-moving  emigrant  groups,  and  as 
he  returned  he  met  their  ox-drawn  caravans,  and  now 
he  reaHzed  as  never  before  the  necessity  for  mobih- 
zing  his  forces  toward  the  frontier.  He  read  a  new 
meaning  out  of  his  own  early  motto :  ''A  circulation  of 
the  preachers."  But  from  this  loud  calling  west  he 
returned  only  to  be  mocked  by  a  return,  at  frequent 
intervals,  of  his  old  maladies.  Often  they  mastered 
him,  and  for  whole  fortnights  together  he  was  laid 
up ;  but  he  rallied  from  each  attack,  and  completed  his 
convalescence  in  labors  and  travels  through  heat  and 
cold,  through  drought  and  rain  and  snow. 

At  Christmastide  he  was  in  Baltimore  settling  the 
yearly  afifairs  of  the  "Book  Concern,"  a^id  struggling 
with  that  horse-leech  problem,  the  Cokesbury  College 
debt.  Thousands  had  been  spent  upon  the  building, 
and  still  not  a  hall  or  a  chamber  was  tenantable.  But 
great  duties  lighten  their  own  burdens  through  variety. 
With  the  new  year  he  was  off  for  another  extended 
Southern  tour,  Charleston,  as  before,  being  the  ob- 
jective. AVhile  passing  through  Virginia  he  was  en- 
tertained by  "a  famous  heroine  of  Christ,"  Mrs.  Ball, 
who  v/as  a  kinswoman  of  Mary,  the  mother  of  Wash- 
ington. She  had  espoused  the  faith  as  preached  by  the 
Methodists,  and  continued  to  the  end  of  her  life  a 
faithful  exDonent  of  the  doctrines  of  the  Church.    The 


140  Francis  Ashiiry. 

name  of  Ball  is  still  an  honored  one  in  the  Methodism 
of  the  Old  Dominion. 

After  a  journey  during  which,  as  Bishop  Hurst  says, 
he  showed  "an  infinite  disregard  of  fatigue,"  Asbury 
came  on  March  15,  1787,  to  Charleston,  where  he  met 
Dr.  Coke,  who  had  but  lately  arrived  from  England. 
From  Charleston  the  two  General  Superintendents  pro- 
ceeded together  to  Salisbury,  where  the  first  Confer- 
ence of  the  year  was  held  some  days  later.  The  j\Iin- 
utes  of  1786  had  fi-xed  the  date  for  May  17;  but  it 
was  changed  by  Dr.  Coke  while  yet  in  Europe  to  suit 
his  traveling  convenience,  as  were  also  the  dates  of  the 
Conferences  in  A'irginia  and  in  Maryland,  and  thereby 
hangs  a  whole  chapter  of  American  Methodist  history, 
further  reference  to  which  will  be  made  as  this  narra- 
tive proceeds. 

Dr.  Coke  had  net  wholly  pleased  the  Americans  dur- 
ing the  five  m.onths  of  his  first  official  visit;  but  they 
had  not  failed  to  see  his  good  points,  and  indorsed  him 
as  an  unselfish  man  and  a  zealous  servant  of  the  Mas- 
ter. They  also  greatly  respected  his  ability  and  learn- 
ing, and  were  justly  proud  of  his  championship.  His 
aristocratic  manners  were  atoned  for  by  his  cordial 
indorsement  of  the  American  republic  and  his  ex- 
pressed admiration  of  its  leaders ;  but  what  the  preach- 
ers secretly  objected  to  was  his  betrayal  of  a  sense  of 
authority.  They  accepted  the  episcopacy  with  the  un- 
derstanding that  the  incumbent  of  the  office  was  to  be 
the  servant  of  his  brethren,  the  first  among  equals. 
But  Coke's  ideal  of  the  episcopacy  was  Anglican. 
Moreover,  he  understood  that  the  government  of  the 
Church  was  to  remain  in  the  hands  of  Mr.  Wesley  in 
much  the  same  wav  as  that  of  the  connection  in  En- 


Pledging  History.  I41 

gland.  As  the  representative  of  Mr.  Wesley,  he  there- 
fore felt  that  in  America  his  power  was  that  of  a 
patriarch.  This  was  not  the  view  of  either  the  preach- 
ers or  Francis  Asbury.  From  the  beginning  Asbnry 
had  questioned  the  wisdom  of  agreeing  to  obey  a  man 
three  thousand  miles  away. 

The  review  at  the  Baltimore  Conference — ^the  deter- 
minative session — of  the  arbitrary  action  of  Coke  in 
changing  tlie  dates  of  the  annual  sittings  brought  this 
whole  matter  to  an  issue.  The  contest  was  sharp,  and 
for  a  time  "the  little  Doctor"  attempted  to  justify  his 
course.  ''You  must  consider  yourselves  my  equals,"  he 
retorted  sharply  upon  Nelson  Reed,  one  of  his  aggres- 
sive critics  in  the  Conference  lists.  *'Yes,  sir,"  was  the 
spirited  reply,  "we  do ;  and  we  are  not  only  the  equals 
of  Dr.  Coke,  but  of  Dr.  Coke's  King."  There  was  too 
great  a  fire  of  Americanism  burning  in  the  bones  of  the 
"lesser  clergy"  for  him  to  hold  out.  To  satisfy  his 
displeased  and  outspoken  brethren  he  submitted  a  writ- 
ten pledge  that  he  would  exercise  no  function  of  his 
office  while  absent  in  Europe  or  elsewhere,  and  that  he 
would  lay  claim  to  no  authority  when  in  America  ex- 
cept to  preside  over  the  Conferences,  ordain,  and  travel 
and  preach  in  the  connection.  A  record  of  this  trans- 
action appears  in  the  Minutes  of  this  year. 

But  a  much  more  important  matter  than  this,  though 
one  related  to  it,  was  this  year  determined  by  the  joint 
action  of  the  Virginia  and  Baltimore  sessions.  Mr. 
Wesley  had  instructed  Dr.  Coke  to  call  a  General  Con- 
ference to  meet  at  Baltimore  May  i,  1787,  and  had 
requested  the  election  of  Richard  Whatcoat  to  the 
joint  superintendency  with  Asbury,  and  Freeborn  Gar- 
rettson  for  superintendent  in  Nova  Scotia.     At  the 


142  Francis  Asbury. 

Christmas  Conference  the  preachers  had  by  a  unani- 
mous vote  bound  themselves  ''during  the  lifetime  of  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Wesley  to  obey  his  commands  in  matters  be- 
longing to  Church  government."  Here  was  an  embar- 
rassing record.  Some  of  the  preachers,  seeing  that 
they  were  not  present  when  the  agreement  was  entered 
into,  refused  to  be  bound  by  it.  The  general  interpre- 
tation was  that  the  agreement  referred  to  the  forms  of 
polity  and  administration,  and  not  to  those  details  of 
election  and  legislation  which  come  properly  under 
these  forms.  The  utmost  that  the  agreement  was 
thought  to  signify  was  the  union  of  world-wide  Metho- 
dism under  Air.  Wesley  during  his  lifetime.  It  was 
now  plain  that  the  action  had  been  a  mistake.  The 
time  had  come  to  undo  it. 

The  result  was  that  no  General  Conference  was  held. 
The  nominations  of  Mr.  Wesley  were  not  considered, 
and  furthermore,  by  formal  action,  the  rule  of  sub- 
mission to  Mr.  Wesley  was  stricken  from  the  Disci- 
pline. The  revised  and  rearranged  Book  of  Discipline 
upon  which  General  Superintendent  Asbury  and  Book 
Steward  John  Dickins  had  been  at  work  since  1785 
was  published  immediately  after  the  Conference  of 
1787,  and  conforms  to  the  several  actions  above  de- 
scribed. Thus  it  was  that  the  autonomy  and  independ- 
ency of  American  Methodism  were  asserted,  and  its 
constitution  prophesied  within  two  and  one-half  years 
after  the  adjournment  of  the  Christmas  Conference. 
The  powers  of  the  episcopacy  had  been  defined  and 
settled,  and  the  rights  of  the  preachers  reserved. 

It  was  also  by  action  of  the  Conference  of  this  year 
that  the  official  title.  General  Superintendent,  was  ren- 
dered into  its  equivalent  as  used  in  the  English  Scrip- 


Pledging  History.  143 

tures,  and  General  Superintendent  Asbiiry  became 
Bishop  Asbury.  As  for  his  associate  in  office,  the 
honorary  title  of  Doctor  was  then  so  rare  a  dignity 
that  the  Methodists  in  both  hemispheres  declined  to 
know  him  otherwise  than  as  Doctor  Coke. 

The  five  bishops  of  the  Church  between  Coke  and 
Soule  lived  and  died  without  honorary  degrees,  and 
almost  without  exception  the  men  of  their  generation 
also  wore  unembellished  names.  How  different  the 
case  to-day !  Titles  which  in  the  times  of  the  fathers 
stood  for  exceptional  attainments  in  scholarship  and 
learning  have  now  come  to  be  so  promiscuously  and 
even  recklessly  conferred  that  they  are  no  longer  a 
certain  guarantee  of  even  respectable  literary  equip- 
ment. 


CHAPTER   XIL 

Wrestling  with  Great  Problems. 

On  New  Year's  Day,  1788,  Bishop  Asbury  surveyed 
an  Episcopal  see  as  great  in  area  as  the  continent  of 
Europe  outside  of  Russia.  It  stretched  from  Nova 
Scotia  on  the  northeast  to  the  Hmits  of  Georgia  on 
the  south,  and  westward  in  all  directions  as  far  as  the 
overseer  might  ride  or  an  itinerant  might  range.  As- 
bury was  alone  in  the  administration  of  this  vast 
charge,  his  colleague  having  returned  to  Europe  some 
time  after  the  Conference  of  1787. 

The  tour  which  Asbury  now  planned  for  himself 
was  to  be  twice  the  length  of  that  of  any  former  year, 
and  was  to  occupy  a  period  of  more  than  nine  months. 
A  map  of  the  completed  journey  resembles  somewhat 
the  outlines  of  a  mighty  hourglass  with  its  extreme 
points  at  New  York  and  the  forks  of  the  Broad  River 
in  Georgia.  Six  Conference  sittings  had  been  appoint- 
ed for  the  year — namely.  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Hol- 
ston,  Virginia,  Uniontown  (Pa.),  and  Baltimore.  Be- 
sides these,  however,  two  additional  sessions  were 
called  by  episcopal  prerogative,  one  in  Philadelphia  and 
one  in  New  York.  The  first  Conference  was  held  in 
Charleston  on  March  12,  and  the  last  at  New  York 
near  the  first  of  October. 

As  the  Bishop  left  Virginia,  in  midwinter,  upon  the 
first  stage  of  his  tour,  the  whole  State  was  ablaze  with 
revival — "up  to  that  time  the  most  remarkable  awaken- 
ing in  America  under  the  preaching  of  the  Methodist 
itinerants."  Refreshed  and  fired  from  contact  with 
(144) 


Wrestling  with  Great  Problems.  145 

tiie  testifying  multitudes  to  whom  he  preached  as  he 
passed,  he  went  forth  to  sound  the  call  on  the  new  and 
ever-changing  frontier.  His  course  was  over  paths 
that  he  knew  through  the  Carolinas;  then  he  crossed 
the  broad  Savannah,  and  entered  into  regions  both 
strange  and  wild.  There  he  rallied  the  vanguard,  and 
sent  them  forth  to  spy  out  the  land  and  set  stakes  in 
the  virgin  soil. 

Leaving  in  Georgia  the  handful  of  pioneer  preach- 
ers and  exhorters  who  constituted  the  first  Georgia 
Conference,  with  his  companion  and  a  pack  horse,  he 
started  across  the  Blue  Ridge  and  its  companion  ranges 
for  the  romantic  lands  of  the  Holston,  a  region  to 
which  his  thoughts  had  often  turned.  The  undertaking 
was  by  far  the  most  formidable  he  had  yet  faced,  but 
the  confidence  with  which  he  entered  upon  it  had  a 
vaster  stay  than  that  v/hich  supported  the  boast  of  Na- 
poleon when  he  said :  "There  shall  be  no  Alps."  En- 
countering first  the  main  axis  of  the  Appalachians,  he 
named  it  the  Alountain  of  Steel.  Striking  later  the 
escarpments  of  the  Unakas  and  Great  Smokies,  he 
named  them  the  Mountains  of  Stone  and  Iron.  But 
once  arrived  in  the  historic  valley,  he  found  in  the 
home  of  General  Russell,  a  famous  pioneer  and  sol- 
dier, a  rest  which  caused  him  to  forget  his  toils.  There 
he  met  the  preachers,  and  Vv^as  blessed  with  a  forevision 
of  what  was  soon  to  be  in  those  ultramontane  lands. 

But  of  mountain  passing  he  had  but  begun  to  have  a 
taste.  From  the  Holston  sitting  of  the  Conference  he 
turned  his  face  eastward,  and  crossed  the  Balsam  range 
into  North  Carolina,  After  holding  the  Virginia  Con- 
ference, at  Petersburg,  he  turned  again  northwestward, 
and  crossed  the  Alleghanies  into  the  far-off  Valley  of 
10 


146  Francis  Ashury. 

the  Ohio^  to  which  he  had  sent  missionaries  as  early 
as  1 78 1.  There  was  now  in  that  isolated  field  a  suffi- 
cient work  to  justify  the  calling  of  a  Conference,  and 
this  he  did,  presiding  at  the  sitting  vvhile  on  this  jour- 
ney. 

For  the  year  1789  fully  a  dozen  Conferences  had 
been  appointed.  There  was  a  complaint  that  this  num- 
ber was  unnecessarily  large,  and  that  the  sittings  were 
too  close  together,  some  being  not  above  thirty  miles 
apart.  But  this  objection  could  not  be  urged  against 
those  appointed  for  Georgia  and  South  Carolina.  On 
his  way  to  the  Georgia  Conference  Asbury  was  again 
joined  by  Dr.  Coke,  who  had  landed,  as  in  1787,  at 
Charleston.  The  two  Bishops  traveled  together  from 
March  until  June,  visiting  all  the  Conferences  and  clos- 
ing their  round  in  New  York.  At  this  Conference  a 
memorable  action  was  taken.  In  the  year  1788  the 
Federal  Constitution  had  been  prom/algated,  following 
which  General  Washington  W' as  elected  to  the  Presiden- 
cy of  the  republic.  On  April  30,  1789,  just  one  month 
before  the  Conference  sitting  in  New  York,  the  Presi- 
dent elect  had  taken  the  oath  of  office.  Bishop  Asbury, 
whose  admiration  for  Washington  was  great,  suggest- 
ed that  the  Conference  present  to  him  a  congratulatory 
address.  The  suggestion  was  cordially  received,  and 
the  two  Bishops  were  appointed  to  write  the  address. 
This  they  did,  and  the  same  day  it  v/as  adopted,  and 
the  Bishops  were  commissioned  to  deliver  it  in  person. 
General  Washington,  having  been  acquainted  of  the 
action  of  the  Conference  by  Rev.  Thomas  ^Morrell,  the 
local  pastor,  who  had  himiself  been  an  officer  in  the 
Revolutionary  War,  prepared  a  written  response  of 
similar  length,  and,  at  a  time  appointed,  received  the 


IVrcstling  with  Great  Problems.  147 

Bishops  and  exchanged  addresses  with  them.  The 
function  was  a  simple  but  most  impressive  one. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Conference  Dr, 
Coke  sailed  again  for  Europe.  It  was  understood  that 
Mr.  Wesley's  great  age  and  growing  feebleness  made 
it  necessary  for  him  to  have  his  chief  lieutenant  con- 
stantly near  him.  Coke  probably  had  other  reasons 
for  recrossing  the  Atlantic.  His  concerns  were  indeed 
so  many  and  so  world-wide,  with  the  Wesleyan  mis- 
sions and  with  the  connections  in  America  and  Great 
Britain,  that  he  has  been  not  inaptly  styled  "the  Foreign 
Minister  of  Methodism." 

It  was  during  the  early  part  of  this  year  that  Bishop 
Asbury  received  the  famous  letter  from  Wesley — the 
last  communication  he  ever  had  from  those  venerable 
hands — in  which  the  patriarch  of  ^Methodism,  then  in 
his  eighty-sixth  year,  accused  Asbury  of  seeking  to 
make  himself  great.  This  letter  had  come  of  the  re- 
fusal of  the  Conference  to  elect  Whatcoat  to  the  epis- 
copacy on  Wesley's  nomination,  and  of  the  rescinding 
of  the  rule  of  submission  to  Wesley's  authority.  Wes- 
ley had  mistakenly  held  Asbury  responsible  for  these 
actions.  But  from  the  charge  he  has  been  fully  exon- 
erated by  his  contemporaries.  The  fallacy  of  the  argu- 
ments against  the  validity  of  Asbury's  episcopacy  which 
High-churchmen  have  grounded  on  this  letter  has  been 
so  often  exposed  that  no  attention  need  be  given  it  here. 

The  Conferences  of  the  year  agreed  that  the  name 
of  Mr.  Wesley  should  again  be  given  recognition  in 
the  Minutes  and  the  Book  of  Discipline.  This  recog- 
nition was  not  a  restoration  of  the  rule  of  submission, 
but  was  simply  an  acknowledgment  of  Wesley  as  a 
bishop  emeritus  of  the  American  Church.    According 


14S  Francis  Asbury. 

to  Dr.  Coke,  the  action  was  intended  to  recognize  Mr. 
Wesley  "as  the  fountain  of  our  episcopal  office  and  the 
father  of  the  whole  work  under  the  divine  guidance." 
In  this  relation  the  name  of  Wesley  continued  to  stand 
in  the  American  Minutes  until  he  was  called  to  the  fel- 
lowship of  the  Church  triumphant. 

Although  the  preachers  with  practical  unanimity,  and 
with  the  expressed  sympathy  of  Asbury,  rejected  Mr. 
Wesley's  call  for  a  General  Conference  in  1787,  the 
need  of  such  a  Conference  was  great.  Legislation 
could  only  be  effected  by  carrying  each  measure  pro- 
posed through  a  series  of  sittings.  These  sittings  were 
considered  to  constitute  one  Conference.  The  Balti- 
more sitting  was  the  "Upper  House,"  so  to  speak, 
where  legislation  was  completed,  and  which  had  up  to 
and  including  the  year  1787  a  distinct  power  of  con- 
firmation. As  the  Conference  sittings  multiplied  that 
method  of  lawmaking  became  increasingly  more  dilTi- 
cult,  and  was  every  year  productive  of  new  chances  of 
disunion.  The  Baltimore  Conference  indeed  lost  its 
primacy,  and  legislation  got  into  the  sittings  haphazard 
and  came  out  the  same  way.  A  General  Conference 
would  no  doubt  have  been  called  in  1787,  except  for 
the  fear  of  the  preachers  that,  in  the  event  of  the  elec- 
tion of  another  American  bishop,  ]\Ir.  Wesley  would 
recall  Asbury  to  Europe.  Now  that  this  danger  was 
past,  through  the  abrogation  of  Mr.  Wesley's  patri- 
archal authority,  a  majority  favored  the  early  convok- 
ing of  a  General  Conference,  but  strangely  enough 
Asbury  opposed  it. 

It  is  useless  to  inquire  into  Asbury's  reasons  for  this 
opposition.  It  may  or  may  not  liave  grown  out  of  a 
feeling  that,  as  he  was  not  a  debater,  he  would  be  at 


Wrestling  zvith  Great  Problems.  149 

a  disadvantage  when  great  contests  arose  in  a  body 
upon  which  there  was  absolutely  no  constitutional 
check.  It  is  known  that  he  feared  a  general  moot  of 
the  preachers  might  result  in  radically  altering  the 
established  discipline,  to  which  he  was  greatly  attached. 
He  felt  the  need  of  an  easier  concert,  but  he  doubted 
the  wisdom  of  reaching  it  at  a  bound.  He  had,  in 
fact,  another  scheme  for  the  government  of  the  Church. 
A  body  called  "the  Council,"  composed  of  the  bishops 
and  the  presiding  elders,  was  to  be  created  and  empow- 
ered to  take  over  all  matters  of  legislation  and  the  ad- 
ministrative affairs  of  the  Church,  under  a  limited  veto 
left  to  each  of  the  Conferences.  This  scheme,  although 
it  came  ostensibly  from  the  two  Bishops,  was  almost 
wholly  the  work  of  Asbury.  It  was  carried  through 
the  Conferences  in  1789  and  ratified,  as  the  result  of 
a  strenuous  insistency  on  the  part  of  Asbury. 

The  Council  had  its  first  meeting  at  Baltimore  De- 
cember I,  1789.  The  members  recognized  at  once  a 
fatal  defect  in  its  plan,  which  required  absolute  unanim- 
ity to  carry  a  measure.  Also  any  rule  vetoed  by  a 
Conference  suspended  the  rule  in  that  district.  The 
first  step,  therefore,  taken  by  the  Councilors  was  to 
propose  a  material  alteration  of  the  restrictions  laid 
upon  them  by  the  Conferences.  This  made  it  neces- 
sary to  carry  the  whole  matter  through  another  round 
of  sittings.  Being  but  little  in  favor  with  the  preach- 
ers at  first,  this  arbitrary  action  of  its  members  pro- 
voked a  criticism  which  prophesied  for  the  Council  a 
stormy  future.  It  was  indeed  doomed  to  a  brief  and 
inglorious  existence ;  but  we  may  note  the  stages  of 
its  decline  in  their  chronological  order. 

History  has  placed  a  bar  sinister  on  the  escutcheon 


150  Francis  Asbury. 

of  James  O'Kelley,  one  of  the  most  gifted  and  aggres- 
sive of  the  early  Methodist  leaders.  He  was  presiding 
elder  in  the  Southern  District  of  Virginia,  and  by  vir- 
tue of  his  office  was  a  member  of  the  Council.  In  posi- 
tion and  influence  in  the  Church  he  was  second  only 
to  Asbury.  At  the  Council  session  he  took  umbrage 
at  the  rulings  of  the  Bishop,  but  he  f>robably  harbored 
an  older  and  more  general  resentment.  In  January, 
1790,  he  addressed  Asbury  a  letter  in  which  he  brought 
against  him  heavy  complaints  of  usurpation  and  tyr- 
ann}^  This  was  the  opening  gun  of  the  famous  O'Kel- 
ley controversy,  which  finally  resulted  in  O'Kelley's 
leaving  the  Church  and  establishing  an  abortive  organi- 
zation known  as  "the  Republican  Methodists,"  or 
Church  of  the  O'Kelleyites. 

A  fair  picture  of  what  lay  before  the  pioneer  Bishop 
in  1790  may  be  had  by  mentally  organizing  his  circuit 
from  these  facts :  Fourteen  Conferences  were  to  be  at- 
tended, and  these  were  sprinkled  over  the  face  of  a 
vast  triangle,  whose  apex  reached  to  the  far-away  wil- 
derness of  Georgia^  and  whose  base  extended  from 
New  York  City  to  a  point  in  the  Kentucky  settlements 
not  far  from  the  present  city  of  Lexington.  The  time 
of  these  sittings  reached  from  February  15  to  October 
4,  and  the  distance  around  the  mighty  course  was  little 
short  of  four  thousand  miles.  Five  times  during  that 
long  ride  the  Bishop  crossed  the  Appalachian  Moun- 
tains and  swam  the  swollen  rivers  that  poured  through 
their  valleys.  But  the  joy  of  an  apostle  filled  his  heart 
while  he  carried  the  burden  of  caring  for  all  the 
Churches.  Many  were  the  perils  he  met,  and  many  the 
strange  stories  he  heard,  as  he  and  the  faithful  What- 
coat,  who  was  his  traveling  companion  much  of  the 


Wrest  ling  zvith  Great  Problems.  151 

year,  pressed  on  in  tireless  enterprise.  Tiiey  were 
often  on  and  near  the  Indian  lands,  and  in  Kentucky 
heard  rumors  of  freshly  perpetrated  atrocities.  The 
graves  of  many  victims  of  the  red  man's  rage  were 
shown  them.  At  one  stage  in  their  return  journey  they 
were  escorted  by  a  company  of  armed  frontiersmen, 
who  traveled  together  for  mutual  protection. 

The  heaviest  concern  of  Bishop  Asbury  this  year  was 
for  the  Council.  It  was  coming  in  for  criticism  on  ev- 
ery hand.  A  few  of  the  Conferences  gave  it  scant 
toleration,  but  for  the  most  part  it  was  practically  rep- 
robated. At  some  of  the  sittings  the  weary  Bishop 
did  not  have  the  heart  to  so  much  as  mention  it,  and  it 
was  now  plain  to  him  that  its  days  were  numbered. 

But  if  his  cherished  dream  of  Church  government 
v/as  disappointed,  lie  found  compensation  in  reflecting 
upon  the  progress  of  the  work.  The  continent  flam.ed 
Vv-'ith  revival.  The  interest  of  the  former  year  in  Vir- 
ginia had  spread  southward,  northward,  and  westward. 
As  the  preachers  came  into  the  Conferences  they 
brought  the  glow  of  it  on  their  souls;  when  they  de- 
parted it  was  with  augmented  zeal.  This  Vv^as  the  year 
in  which  the  Sunday  school  movement  was  formally 
recognized  by  Conference  action.  But  Wesley  had 
used  the  Sunday  school  long  before  this  in  his  work  in 
England.  Asbury  was  also  at  this  time  projecting  pri- 
mary scl'icols  in  North  Carolina,  Georgia,  and  Ken- 
tucky. While  in  Kentucky  he  raised  a  subscription  of 
$1,500  for  a  school  in  tliat  territory  to  be  known  as 
Bethel.  This  enterprise  became  a  source  of  much  wor- 
ry to  him  at  a  later  day,  and  he  named  it  "a  miniature 
Cokesbury."  Other  schools,  especially  the  one  in 
North  Carolina  and  a  later  enterprise  in  Pennsylvania, 


1^2  Francis  Asbury. 

as  also  one  in  Virginia,  called  the  Ebenezer  Academy, 
had  happier  histories.  It  is  worthy  of  note  also  that 
the  school  which  he  still  later  projected  in  South  Car- 
olina survives  to-day  in  that  splendid  institution  known 
as  Wofford  College. 

The  episcopal  labors  of  the  year  were  practically 
closed  with  the  presidency  over  a  second  session  of  the 
Council,  which  was  held  December  i,  and,  as  before, 
in  Baltimore.  Besides  considering  its  own  difficult  sit- 
uation, the  Council  did  little  except  to  recommend  a 
loan  of  five  thousand  dollars  for  Cokesbury  College,  It 
adjourned  to  meet  again  in  December,  1792 ;  but  it 
never  reassembled.  The  General  Conference  of  that 
year  displaced  it,  and  inherited  all  its  functions,  and 
many  more. 

Dr.  Coke  was  scheduled  to  reach  Charleston  from 
Europe  by  way  of  the  West  Indies  about  the  middle 
of  February,  1791.  The  first  Conference  of  the  year 
was  to  be  held  in  Charleston,  and  the  two  Bishops  were 
then  to  take  the  round  of  the  connection  together.  For 
this  reason  the  twelve  sittings  named  for  the  year  were 
to  be  held  at  points  east  of  the  mountains,  and  so  ar- 
ranged that  the  last  should  fall  at  midsummer. 

Dr.  Coke  suffered  shipwreck  off  Edisto  Light;  but 
arrived  in  time  to  attend  the  Conference,  bringing  with 
him  William  Hammett,  an  erratic  and  gifted  young 
Irish  preacher,  whose  sermons  so  captivated  the  Metho- 
dists of  Charleston  that  they  asked,  and  then  demanded, 
that  he  be  given  them  as  a  pastor.  This  request  Asbury 
flatly  declined  to  consider.  A  bitter  personal  contro- 
versy arose  over  the  incident.  Hammett  followed  As- 
bury to  Philadelphia,  and  made  a  determined  effort  to 
secure  the  Charleston  pulpit.     Failing  in  this,  he  re- 


Wrestling  ii;ith  Great  Problems.  153 

turned  to  Charleston,  divided  the  congregation,  and  es- 
tabhshed  an  independent  Church,  to  which  he  minis- 
tered until  his  death  a  few  years  later. 

Dr.  Coke  had  come  to  America  determined,  as  has 
been  supposed,  to  put  an  end  to  the  Council  and  call 
a  General  Conference.  The  meeting  between  him  and 
Asbury  was,  therefore,  not  so  cordial  as  had  been  their 
former  associations;  but  Asbury  showed  his  sincerity 
of  purpose  and  his  devotion  to  the  Church  by  surren- 
dering witliout  a  contest  and  agreeing  to  a  General 
Conference. 

The  two  Bishops  had  proceeded  in  their  joint  super- 
intendenc}'  of  the  Conferences  through  Georgia  and  the 
Carolinas,  and  were  at  the  second,  or  Hanover,  session 
in  Virginia  when  they  received  the  melancholy  news 
of  the  death  of  Mr.  Wesley.  Dr.  Coke  hurried  at  once 
to  Baltimore,  that  he  might  take  the  first  ship  to  En- 
gland, and  left  Bishop  Asbury  to  complete  the  visita- 
tions of  the  year  alone.  Being  detained  in  Baltimore 
over  Sabbath,  Dr.  Coke  was  asked  to  preach  a  sermon 
in  memory  of  Mr.  Wesley.  In  this  discourse  he  was 
indiscreet  enough  to  suggest  that  the  Founder's  death 
had  been  hastened  by  the  action  of  the  American  Con- 
ference in  rescinding  the  rule  of  submission.  Although 
the  unreasonableness  of  this  supposition  was  apparent, 
it  had  the  effect  of  further  chilling  the  affection  of  the 
Americans  for  the  great  and  gifted  man  whom  they  had 
received  half  a  dozen  years  before  as  their  ecclesiastical 
liberator,  and  whom  they  had  gladly  accepted  as  their 
first  Bishop. 

The  plan  of  the  Conferences  for  the  year  afforded 
Asbury  an  opportunity  to  take  up  a  long-cherished  en- 
terprise— namely,  a  personal  survey  of  New  England 


154  Francis  Asbiiry. 

as  a  field  for  Methodism.  In  the  previous  year  Jesse 
Lee,  burning  with  desire  for  the  mission,  had  been 
made  presiding  elder  of  a  prospective  New  England 
district,  and  had  been  given  three  or  four  helpers,  two 
of  them  veterans.  With  these  he  had  invaded  the  land 
of  steady  habits  and  Calvinistic  theology.  A  beginning 
had  been  made,  and  the  work  was  to  be  immediately  re- 
enforced. 

Asbury  made  exceptional  preparations  for  his  New 
England  journey.  The  country  was  old  and  the  high- 
ways were  good.  Instead  of  the  usual  horseback  ad- 
vance, he  decided  to  go  on  wheels,  and  secured  a  chaise 
for  his  use.  In  company  with  Jesse  Lee  he  set  out 
from  New  York  about  June  i.  A  number  of  the  prin- 
cipal cities  were  visited,  including  Newport,  Provi- 
dence, Hartford,  New  Haven,  Boston,  Lynn,  and 
Salem.  In  all  these  he  delivered  sermons,  and  in  a  few 
instances  met  with  cordial  treatment;  but,  generally 
speaking,  he  was  accorded  scant  courtesy  by  the  repre- 
sentatives of  other  Churches.  His  rather  disparaging 
estimate  of  the  type  of  religion  he  found  may  have  been 
unconsciously  influenced  by  something  besides  theolog- 
ical judgment. 

Although  he  saw  little  that  was  accomplished  by  his 
personal  mission,  he  returned  feeling  that  at  an  early 
day  Methodism  would  come  into  its  own,  even  in  the 
land  of  "the  Presbyterians/'  as  he  termed  the  Calvin- 
istic Congregationalists,  whose  altars  were  still  sup- 
ported by  appropriations  from  the  State  Legislatures. 
He  believed  that  Arminian  Methodism  would  find  tin- 
der amongst  the  ''decrees."  The  following  year  his 
faith  was  rewarded  by  tidings  of  a  revival  which  began 
under  his  preachers  in  Connecticut.    The  center  of  this 


Wrestling  with  Great  Problems.  155 

awakening  was  at  Hartford,  where  that  remarkable 
man,  Hope  Hull,  was  in  charge.  It  was  during  this 
revival  that  a  lad  of  thirteen  or  fourteen  years  "joined 
in  society"  under  Hull,  and  later  asked  for  license  as  a 
preacher.  This  lad  was  the  famous  and  erratic  Loren- 
zo Dow,  whose  sermons  and  meteoric  dashes  from  the 
Canadas  to  Mississippi  and  back  were  one  of  the  sen- 
sations of  the  early  years  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

The  Conferences  (eighteen  in  number)  for  the 
round  of  1792  began  early,  the  first  two  being  held 
before  Christmas,  1791.  These  visitations,  v/hich  the 
Bishop  found  it  necessary  to  complete  by  the  end  of 
September,  must  have  represented  in  the  aggregate 
nearly  five  thousand  miles.  In  addition  to  taking  in 
the  stations  in  Georgia,  Holston,  and  Kentucky,  he  held 
a  Conference  in  Lynn,  and  thus  a  second  time  com- 
passed nearly  the  whole  of  New  England.  It  was  to 
him  a  year  of  great  stress.  At  the  height  of  it  he  made 
this  entry  in  his  journal:  "How  much  I  have  suffered 
in  this  journey  is  only  known  to  God  and  myself."  As 
in  1790,  he  was  while  on  the  frontier  in  the  midst  of 
Indian  hostilities,  and  several  times  barely  missed  being 
set  upon  by  the  savages.  A  whole  night  he  paced  a 
sentry's  beat,  watching  for  the  redskin  foe.  Again, 
after  a  long  and  weary  mountain  ride,  he  was  sheltered 
at  a  house  protected  by  armed  guards.  But  all  condi- 
tions, as  all  places,  were  alike  to  him,  so  he  turned  in 
and  slept,  with  no  disturbing  dreams.  In  his  journal 
he  wrote :  'T  do  not  fear.  Nature  is  spent  with  labor ; 
I  would  not  live  always.  Hail,  happy  death:  nothing 
but  holiness,  perfect  love,  and  then  glory  for  me!" 
This  is  the  generation  of  those  who  overcome  by  the 
word  of  their  testimony. 


156  Francis  Asbury. 

At  the  end  of  his  five  thousand  miles  of  travel  the 
weary  itinerant  dragged  himself  through  a  storm  of 
rain  to  Baltimore.  He  had  scarcely  more  than  arrived 
when,  as  he  tells  us,  "in  came  Dr.  Coke,  of  whose  ar- 
rival we  had  not  heard,  and  whom  we  embraced  with 
great  love."  This  was  the  last  day  of  October.  The 
General  Conference  was  to  convene  the  next  day  in  the 
Light  Street  Assembly  Room,  the  meeting  place  of  the 
early  General  Conferences. 

There  has  been  a  considerable  difference  of  opinion 
as  to  whether  or  not  this  should  be  considered  the  first 
General  Conference  of  the  Church.  Some  of  the  early 
Church  historians  have  so  named  it,  but  the  weight  of 
statement  is  in  favor  of  including  the  Christmas  Con- 
ference in  the  number  of  General  Conferences  and 
placing  it  at  the  head  of  the  list.  All  the  Conferences 
from  1773  to  1778,  inclusive,  were  general,  but  they 
were  not  autonomous  bodies,  only  conversaziones  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  Wesley's  personal  representatives  and 
the  preachers.  The  Christmas  Conference  was  empow- 
ered under  its  Magna  Charta  (Mr.  Wesley's  letter)  to 
act  with  no  limitations  except  the  rule  of  "the  Scrip- 
tures and  the  primitive  Church."  The  Christmas  Con- 
ference was  a  General  Conference ;  but  it  was  more.  It 
was,  as  Dr.  Abel  Stevens  describes  it,  "an  extraordinary 
convention,"  called  to  create  a  new  ecclesiastical  juris- 
diction. But  after  separating  these  extraordinary  pow- 
ers from  the  general  content,  there  will  be  found  re- 
maining the  identical  functions — legislative  and  juris- 
dictional— of  those  assemblies  that  were  later  known 
by  the  canonical  name  of  "General  Conference."  The 
General  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
South,  at  the  session  held  at  Memphis,  Tenn.,  in  1894, 


Wrestling  with  Great  Problems.  157 

ordered  that  the  reckoning  at  the  head  of  its  journal 
should  include  a  recognition^  parenthetically  entered, 
of  the  Christmas  Conference  as  the  initial  sitting  in  the 
series  of  General  Conferences.  The  position  thus  taken 
is  historically  impregnable. 

Asbury  contemplated  the  meeting  of  a  General  Con- 
ference with  much  concern,  because  he  feared  that  rad- 
ical changes  in  the  organization  and  Discipline  of  the 
Church  would  be  attempted.  Early  events  of  the  ses- 
sion showed  how  well  his  fears  were  grounded. 

The  attendance  at  the  Conference  was  large.  There 
were  now  more  than  two  hundred  and  seventy  preach- 
ers in  the  connection ;  and  as  all  were  eligible  to  sit,  a 
vast  majority  of  them  appeared.  Furthermore,  it  was 
expected  that,  in  view  of  the  rapid  extension  of  the 
work,  this  v/ould  be  the  last  assembly  of  this  character 
that  could  ever  be  held,  and  this  spurred  many  to  at- 
tend from  great  distances.  Bishop  Asbury  modestly 
declined  to  share  the  presidency  of  the  session,  and 
withdrew  from  the  Conference  room,  asking  to  be  "ex- 
cused from  assisting  to  make  laws  by  which  himself 
was  to  be  governed."  He  also  knev/  that  he  was  to 
be  assailed ;  so  he  said,  ''Speak  your  minds  freely,"  and 
left  the  Conference  to  itself,  with  Dr.  Coke  presiding. 

Those  were  the  times  in  which  precedents  were 
made.  On  the  first  day  the  Conference  drafted  rules 
of  order.  It  was  also  then  determined  that  only  by 
a  two-thirds  vote  could  new  disciplinary  rules  be  made, 
or  old  ones  abolished,  but  that  any  rule  might  be  al- 
tered or  amended  by  a  simple  majority.  At  the  sug- 
gestion of  Bishop  Asbury,  a  ''Preparatory  Committee" 
was  appointed  and  directed  to  bring  forward  proper 
matters  for  consideration  in  Conference.    This  was  the 


158  Francis  Ashury. 

expiring  ghost  of  ''the  Council."  It  proved  to  be  a 
weir  of  paper  before  a  flood.  Within  three  days  after 
the  Conference  opened  legislation  was  being  lugged 
in  by  the  ears,  and  the  tribunal  of  proprieties  promptly 
demised. 

It  was  now  that  James  O'Kelley  came  forward  with 
his  historic  resolution  directed  against  Asbury.  The 
subject  of  this  revolutionary  document  was,  that  if  any 
preacher  considered  himself  injured  by  his  appoint- 
ment, he  should  have  liberty  to  appeal  to  his  Confer- 
ence; and  if  the  Conference  approved  his  objection, 
the  Bishop  should  appoint  him  to  another  circuit.  This 
contention  was  espoused  by  strong  men,  and  some  of 
them  close  friends  of  Bishop  Asbury,  as  Hope  Hull 
and  Freeborn  Garrettson.  On  the  opposite  side  were 
men  like  Jesse  Lee,  Thomas  Morrell,  and  Nelson  Reed. 
For  a  time  it  seemed  that  the  issue  was  certain  to 
carry,  but  after  a  prolonged  debate  it  was  decisively 
defeated.  As  a  result,  O'Kelley  and  several  other 
members  of  the  Conference  left  their  seats  and  with- 
drew from  the  Church.  With  O'Kelley  went  a  young 
A'irginia  preacher  whom  Asbury  had  ordained  the 
year  before.  He  was  a  choice  young  man  and  a  good- 
ly, and  the  soul  of  Asbury  yearned  after  him.  Before 
many  weeks  the  disaffected  disciple  was  won  back,  and 
became  Asbury's  traveling  companion  and  confidant. 
That  was  William  ISlcKendree,  whose  apostolic  labors 
rank  only  second  to  those  of  Asbury  in  the  Church  of 
the  New  World. 

The  action  of  the  General  Conference  in  rejecting 
the  measure  proposed  by  O'Kelley  settled  the  appoint- 
ing power  of  the  episcopacy  upon  a  basis  which  has 
suffered  no  change  to  the  present  day.     Young  Mc- 


Wrestling  zvith  Great  Problems.  159 

Kenciree,  who  followed  for  a  time  the  schismatic 
O'Kelley,  became  later  the  champion  of  the  episcopal 
prerogative,  and  was  recognized  as  **the  Constitution- 
al Expounder  of  Methodism/' 

The  Discipline  came  in  for  material  changes  and 
alterations.  Its  oft-revised  categories  were  now  mar- 
shaled into  three  comprehensive  chapters.  The  first 
chapter  concerned  the  ministry,  the  second  the  mem- 
bership, and  the  third  included  the  sections  on  tem- 
poral economy,  and  the  doctrinal  tracts  and  Church 
offices,  or  ritual.  The  prophecy  of  the  ''Annual  Con- 
ference" is  distinctly  read  in  the  empowerment  of  the 
Bishops  to  "unite  two  or  more  districts  together"  to 
form  a  Conference  or  to  participate  in  a  sitting.  The 
title  "presiding  elder"  appears  this  year  for  the  first 
time  in  the  Discipline,  and  the  duties  of  that  officer 
come  out  more  clearly  than  before. 

After  a  tvv^o  weeks'  sitting  the  General  Conference 
adjourned,  having  settled  in  stronger  terms  the  Church 
polity,  and  having  provided  for  a  general  governing- 
body  to  sit  every  four  years,  "to  be  composed  of  all  the 
traveling  preachers  in  full  connection,"  as  against  the 
eligibility  of  all  the  traveling  preachers  in  this  and  the 
Christmas  Conference. 

Thus  the  historic  session,  which  began  in  storm  and 
confusion,  ended  in  peace  and  the  promise  of  victory. 
Problems  that  had  vexed  the  Church  from  its  founda- 
tion had  been  solved,  and  greatly  needed  legislation 
had  been  secured.  Asbury  saw  his  desires  realized  by 
means  the  employment  of  which  he  had  contemplated 
with  dread.  After  a  "sifting  and  shaking"  process,  he 
found  his  position  stronger  than  before.  Dr.  Coke 
praised  in  the  highest  terms  the  abilities,  moderation, 


i6o  Francis  Ashury. 

and  unselfishness  of  tlie  American  preachers  as  ex- 
hibited in  the  debates  and  votes  of  the  Conference. 

With  these  feUcitations,  ''the  Httle  Doctor"  took  leave 
of  his  brethren,  and  again  sailed  for  Europe,  leaving 
the  oversight  of  the  continent  to  his  toiling  colleague. 
It  is  doubtful  if  Coke  ever  at  any  time  fully  appraised 
the  possibilities  of  the  American  work^  or  saw  how 
great  an  opportunit}^  for  service  he  Vv^as  letting  slip  in 
giving  so  little  time  to  the  bishopric  to  which  he  had 
been  consecrated.  Yet  in  the  hearing  of  his  self-given 
missionary  commission  he  possibly  found  his  providen- 
tial sphere. 


CHAPTER   XIII. 
In  the  Century's  Twilight. 

The  Annual  Conference  sessions  which  followed  the 
General  Conference  of  1792  began  almost  immediately, 
the  first  being  scheduled  for  November  15,  at  Alexan- 
dria, Va.  This  was  the  period  of  experimentation  with 
the  yearly  Conference,  the  evolutionary  stage  in  which 
that  body  struggled  to  reach  the  type  of  fullness  and 
permanency.  Twenty  sittings  were  indicated  in  the 
list  for  the  year ;  but  it  is  certain  that  a  greater  num- 
ber were  held,  while  at  least  two  in  the  list  appear  to 
have  been  omitted.  The  extent  to  which  the  episcopal 
visitations  were  multiplied  and  extended  is  suggested 
by  such  new  and  remote  points  for  meetings  as  Savan- 
nah, John's  River,  Jonesboro,  and  Nashville, 

The  Conference  in  North  Carolina  Vvas  again  held 
at  the  home  of  the  Rev.  Green  Hill,  and  the  preachers 
reported  a  total  of  more  than  nine  hundred  conversions 
for  the  year  in  that  territory.  In  South  Carolina  As- 
bury  lodged  at  "Rembert  Hall,"  the  home  of  Col.  James 
Rembert,  a  rich  planter,  and  the  Gains  of  early  Metho- 
dism in  South  Carolina.  On  many  succeeding  jour- 
neys this  hospitable  roof  sheltered  the  tired  Bishop, 
and  the  ministries  beneath  it  cheered  and  refreshed 
him  for  his  toils.  Indeed,  it  was  the  experiences  which 
fell  to  him  in  homes  like  those  of  James  Rembert, 
Harry  Dorsey  Cough,  Judge  White,  Governor  Van 
Cortlandt,  General  Russell,  Green  Hill,  the  Dallams, 
and  the  Warfields  that  proved  the  earthly  compensa- 
tion of  his  homeless  wandering  life.  It  was  about 
II  '        (161) 


i62  Francis  Asbury. 

this  time  that  he  imparted  this  confidence  to  his  jour- 
nal: "None  need  desire  to  be  an  American  bishop  on 
otir  plan  for  the  ease,  honor,  or  interest  that  attends 
the  office."  And  yet  when  he  compared  his  lot  with 
others,  he  counted  himself  amongst  the  most  blessed 
of  men,  and  declared  in  borrowed,  though  none  the  less 
triumphant,  words : 

"The  things  eternal  I  pursue. 


The  things  by  nature  felt  and  seen, 
Their  honors,  wealth,  and  pleasures  mean, 
I  neither  have  nor  want." 

Although  the  General  Conference  had  left  him  in 
a  stronger  official  position  than  before,  troubles  con- 
tinued to  multiply.  The  O'Kelley  schism  was  taking- 
definite  shape.  Systematic  efforts  were  being  made 
by  the  seceders  to  lead  away  large  bodies  of  Metho- 
dists, and  at  one  stage  of  the  controversy  the  scheme 
was  nearly  successful.  Tidings  of  these  movements 
followed  the  Bishop  on  his  distant  journeys  and  caused 
him  much  concern.  But  he  proved  to  be  powerful  in 
all  parts  of  Methodism,  whether  present  or  absent.  A 
constant  correspondence  issued  from  under  his  hand 
as  he  rode  and  preached  and  sat  in  Conference.  With 
arguments,  with  tearful  entreaties,  with  persuasiveness 
of  love,  he  won  the  people  back  in  numbers,  and  thus 
reduced  the  schism  to  the  thin  edge ;  yet  for  all  this, 
the  losses  of  Methodism  from  this  cause  were  con- 
stant for  several  years,  and  it  was  not  until  1802  that 
the  discrepancy  in  membership  was  fully  covered.  This 
was  Asbury's  deep  affliction,  and,  saint  though  he  was, 
he  had  strong  words  for  those  who  troubled  Israel. 
Sometimes    these    strong    words    went   beyond    even 


In  the  Century's  Twilight.  163 

what  he  himself  in  soberer  moments  could  adjudge 
allowable.  ''I  have  said  more  than  was  for  the  glory 
of  God  concerning  those  who  have  left  the  American 
connection,"  he  penitently  wrote  in  his  journal,  **and 
who  have  reviled  Mr.  Wesley,  Mr.  Fletcher,  Dr.  Coke, 
and  poor  me.  O  that  I  could  trust  the  Lord  more 
than  I  do  and  leave  his  cause  wholly  in  his  own  hands  !" 
At  Savannah  he  saw  the  ruins  of  Whitefield's  Orphan- 
age, which  had  been  destroyed  by  fire.  The  charred 
and  gaping  walls  were  still  standing.  While  yet  a 
young  preacher  in  England  he  had  seen  the  copper- 
plate counterfeit  of  the  building,  famed  through  two 
worlds,  and  the  melancholy  spectacle  upon  which  he 
now  looked  affected  him  deeply.  W^ithin  a  few  years 
he  was  to  witness  a  similar  picture  at  Cokesbury. 

A  significant  episcopal  act — the  first  step  in  the  evo- 
lutional movement  toward  a  permanent  type  of  yearly 
Conference — belongs  to  the  record  of  this  year.  That 
was  the  uniting  of  the  works  in  South  Carolina  and 
Georgia  into  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  South 
Carolina  Conference ;  but  at  this  time  there  were  nei- 
ther Conference  names  nor  boundaries.  Though  the 
last  section  of  the  old  colonial  empire,  except  New 
England,  to  be  invaded  by  the  I^vlethodists,  South  Caro- 
lina and  Georgia  were  yet  the  first  integrants  of  Meth- 
odism to  be  thrown  into  permanent  Conference  shape. 
Savannah  was  made  a  station  and  put  in  charge  of 
Hope  Hull,  who  had  wrought  so  eft'ectively  the  year 
before  in  New  England.  Thus  nearly  threescore  years 
after  John  Wesley  had  left  the  capital  of  Oglethorpe 
between  suns  a  Methodist  was  again  there  to  combat 
the  vanities  and  follies  of  this  world. 

After  leaving  Savannah  and  passing  up  through  the 


164  Francis  Ashiiry. 

Carolinas,  Asbury  again  accomplished  his  long  and 
perilous  journey  across  the  mountains  into  the  wild 
new  territory  of  Tennessee  and  the  distant  settlements 
in  Kentucky.  By  the  end  of  summer  he  had,  in  re- 
turning, crept  again  over  those  stony  barriers,  and  had 
again  completed  the  round  of  New  England,  in  which 
little-while-ago  unpromising  field  he  was  comforted 
with  the  reports  of  many  conversions.  By  the  begin- 
ning of  autumn  he  was  in  Philadelphia,  now  being 
visited  by  a  scourge  of  yellow  fever.  Unhindered  and 
unterrified,  he  entered  the  stricken  city,  prayed,  deliv- 
ered his  message,  and  then  went  his  way  to  answer 
other  calls. 

There  is  a  limit  to  human  endurance,  and  this  Fran- 
cis Asbury  was  often  forced,  though  reluctantly,  to 
acknowledge.  Diseased  and  broken,  he  was  compelled 
during  1794  to  give  up  his  accustomed  circuit  of  the 
republic.  He  dared  not  attempt  in  his  enfeebled  con- 
dition the  passage  of  ''the  American  Alps,"  as  he 
termed  the  triple  Appalachian  ranges ;  but  contented 
himself  chiefly  with  visitations  through  those  States 
which  had  made  his  circuit  before  the  meeting  of  the 
Christmas  Conference.  The  preachers  from  distant 
fields  met  him  at  halfway  points,  and  he  there  planned 
their  stations  and  directed  their  future  movements. 
An  enforced  inactivity  of  many  weeks  occurred  dur- 
ing January  and  February,  and  this  season  was  spent 
in  the  genial  climate  of  Charleston. 

Practical  and  matter-of-fact  though  he  was,  there 
was  yet  in  the  make-up  of  Asbury  an  element  of  the 
dreamer  and  idealist.  This  was  that  in  him  which  ran 
to  the  seer.  Colluding  with  his  faith,  it  enabled  him 
to  s^  results  before  they  were  attained ;  it  gave  fasci- 


In  the  Century^ s  Twilight.  165 

nation  to  adventure,  and  made  enticing  the  enterprise 
of  the  impossible.  The  distant  treadings  of  his  un- 
seen itinerants  through  mountains  and  valleys  remote 
were  a  perpetual  echo  of  music  in  his  thoughts.  He 
had  also  the  rare  faculty  of  divining  the  spirits,  and 
knew  the  men  whose  feet  would  echo  thus.  In  March, 
1794,  he  writes:  "I  haye  provided  Brothers  Gibson 
and  Lurton  for  the  zvcstzvard:'  That  was  Tobias  Gib- 
son ;  and  never  was  word  of  command  laid  upon  a 
more  intrepid  soldier.  The  word  "westward"  had  for 
him  a  soul-entrancing  sound.  In  1800,  with  the  call 
of  the  new  century,  he  rode  to  the  settlements  on  the 
Cumberland,  there  procured  a  frail  boat,  which  he 
paddled  down  the  Cumberland,  the  Ohio,  and  thence 
into  the  Mississippi,  in  which  stream  he  continued  un- 
til he  came  to  the  Natchez  country,  where  through  suc- 
cessive years  he  labored  and  laid  the  foundations  of 
Methodism  in  that  then  more  than  romantic  region. 
Death  early  called  him  to  his  rest.  His  dust  sleeps 
within  hearing  of  the  eternal  roll  of  the  tides  of  the 
river  along  wdiose  banks  he  sowed  the  enduring  seed. 

The  Conference  held  this  year  in  New  England  was 
a  notable  one.  After  preaching  in  Boston,  where  he 
assured  himself  that  Methodists  would  "yet  have  a 
work,"  in  company  with  Robert  R.  Roberts,  afterwards 
one  of  the  bishops  of  the  Church,  Asbury  came  to  Wil- 
braham  and  met  the  preachers.  Not  a  few  of  the  men 
famous  in  the  early  history  of  Methodism  were  in  that 
little  gathering.  Besides  R^oberts  and  Lee  were  Os- 
trander,  Mudge,  Taylor,  and  Hull.  Stevens,  the  his- 
torian, stopped  in  his  narrative  to  make  special  mention 
of  these  names  of  men  who  "led  the  triumphs  of  Israel 
in  the  land  of  the  East." 


i66  Francis  Asbury. 

Experience  had  taught  Asbury  and  the  brethren 
much  wisdom  in  the  arrangement  of  the  Conferences. 
At  first  there  was  an  unnecessary  waste  of  time  and 
a  needless  multiphcation  of  meetings.  But  the  dis- 
tricts were  now  so  consoHdated  that  for  1795  <^"b' 
seven  sittings  were  appointed^  as  against  twenty,  and 
even  more,  in  some  previous  years.  All  the  frontier 
work  was  united  in  one  body  called  the  "Western 
District."  This  made  it  necessary  for  the  Bishop  to 
make  but  one  point  beyond  the  mountains,  where  all 
the  preachers,  gathered  into  a  single  assembly,  made 
not  only  an  effective  show,  but  held  a  helpful  fellow- 
ship. 

This  year  the  heart  of  Asbury  was  deeply  saddened 
by  news  of  the  death  of  Justice  White,  of  Delaware, 
his  benefactor  and  protector  in  the  times  of  strife  and 
war.  "He  was  a  friend  to  the  poor  and  oppressed;  he 
had  been  a  professed  Churchman,  and  was  united  to 
the  Methodist  connection  about  seventeen  or  eighteen 
years,"  was,  in  part,  the  simple  eulogy  passed  upon 
him  by  his  simple-hearted  friend  and  Bishop.  It  was 
about  this  time  also  that  the  journal  of  Asbury  noted 
the  death  of  Richard  Henry  Lee,  a  "great  politician, 
who  was  active  in  promoting  the  independence  of  the 
United  States."  It  is  significant  that  in  the  same  con- 
nection he  sighed  over  the  impotency  of  the  measures, 
political  and  ecclesiastical,  for  dealing  with  the  cause 
of  slavery.  The  men  who  made  the  republic  had  their 
own  notions  about  slavery,  but  left  the  problem,  with 
all  its  perils,  to  the  men  of  an  after  time. 

Freeborn  Garrettson,  the  Roland  of  the  itinerancy, 
had  married  a  woman  of  wealth,  and  was  settled  in  a 
sumptuous  home  on  the  Hudson,  but  was  still  loyal  to 


In  the  Century's  Tzvilight.  167 

his  call  as  a  Methodist  preacher,  and  continued  so  to 
the  end  of  his  life.  Descending  the  country  from  his 
episcopal  visitations  in  New  England,  Asbury  was  en- 
tertained in  the  Garrettson  home,  and  also  tarried  a  day 
with  his  long-time  friend,  Governor  Van  Cortlandt, 
whose  manor  was  in  the  same  quarter.  Van  Cort- 
landt was  one  of  the  truly  great  figures  of  his  day. 
He  had  won  renown  in  public  life,  but  was  heartily 
religious.  He  was  a  tower  of  strength  to  the  Meth- 
odists. In  his  home  Washington,  Lafayette,  and  other 
distinguished  men  had  been  entertained,  but  they  were 
not  made  more  welcome  than  were  the  itinerants. 
Whitefield  had  several  times  been  his  guest,  and  from 
the  balconies  of  his  mansion  had  addressed  a  multitude 
of  people.  The  highest  compliment  which  Asbury 
could  pay  to  this  courtly  publicist  and  hearty  Metho- 
dist layman  was  that  he  reminded  him  of  General  Rus- 
sell, the  pioneer  soldier  Christian,  now  sleeping  under 
the  sod  of  the  far-away  Holston  Valley. 

Bishop  Coke  was  expected  in  the  country  to  preside 
over  the  General  Conference  of  1796.  Asbury  there- 
fore began  in  the  autumn  of  the  previous  year  his 
seventh  round  of  the  connection  v/ith  the  feeling  that 
relief  from  the  great  burden  he  was  carrying  was  soon 
to  be  afforded  by  his  colleague  and  his  brethren.  It 
seems  incredible  that  he  should  have  been  left  so  long 
without  episcopal  assistance,  but  more  incredible  that 
at  the  next  General  Conference  the  episcopacy  was  not 
"strengthened;"  but  why  it  was  not  done  will  be  seen 
when  we  come  to  review  in  their  place  the  proceedings 
of  that  body. 

It  becomes  now  no  longer  necessary  to  follow  the 
apostolic  pioneer   around  his   six  thousand  miles   of 


1 68  Francis  Asbury, 

circuit.  He  had  come  to  know  the  passes  of  the 
"American  Alps"  and  the  paths  of  the  wilderness  as 
seamen  know  the  sea.  Each  year  he  pushed  his  own 
advance  a  little  farther  westward,  and  flung  the  bat- 
tle line  a  stage  beyond  his  own  going.  Each  year,  too, 
a  step  farther  northward,  as  a  step  farther  southward, 
pressed  the  vanguards  which  he  was  all  but  daily  re- 
cruiting, and  still  he  declared  it  impossible  to  supply 
preachers  for  the  work.  In  the  South  the  itinerants 
were  in  sight  of  the  Spanish  possessions,  and  in  the 
North  they  were  invading  the  "Province  of  Maine" 
and  pushing  up  the  courses  of  the  Canadian  rivers.  At 
the  turn  of  the  year  word  came  from  Jesse  Lee  that 
the  bulwarks  in  New  England  were  giving  way,  and 
that  even  Boston  was  receiving  the  Methodists.  Asbury 
estimated  that  this  year  there  were  seventy  thousand 
Methodists  in  America  and  the  West  Indies.  The  Min- 
utes showed  a  total  of  nearly  three  hundred  preachers 
connected  with  the  work.  When,  twenty-five  years 
before,  Asbury  entered  upon  his  labors  In  the  New 
World  there  were  with  himself  and  Richard  WVight, 
his  fellow-missionary,  but  eight  Methodist  preachers 
on  the  continent,  and  scarcely  five  hundred  members 
In  society. 

A  memory  of  his  initial  days  of  service  In  America 
was  revived  to  him  this  year.  The  episcopal  round 
closed  with  the  Conference  in  Philadelphia,  and  here 
Asbury  had  the  pleasure  to  receive  as  a  visitor  at  the 
Conference  his  old-time  comrade  In  arms,  Joseph  Pil- 
moor,  who  was  now  rector  of  a  Protestant  Episcopal 
parish  In  the  "City  of  Brotherly  Love."  The  ex- 
itinerant  was  not  only  cordially  received,  but  was  in- 
vited to  preach,  and  Asbury  expressed  gratification  at 


In  the  Cciitiiry's  Tzvilight.  i6g 

hearing  *'such  wholesome  talk"  from  his  "plain  coun- 
tryman." 

And  now  having  learned  through  the  medium  of  the 
newspapers  that  Dr.  Coke  had  reached  Baltimore,  he 
rode  to  "Perry  Hall,"  where  he  gave  himself  up  to 
a  "rest  of  both  mind  and  body."  Despite  their  some- 
time sharp  differences,  there  subsisted  between  Coke 
and  Asbury  a  deep  and  sincere  personal  affection.  As- 
bury  not  only  admired  the  great  and  commanding  tal- 
ents of  his  colleague,  but  cherished  a  profound  re- 
spect for  his  faithful  and  unselfish  zeal  in  the  cause 
of  God.  For  his  own  part  Coke  regarded  Asbury  as 
being,  next  to  Wesley,  the  most  apostolic  man  he  had 
ever  known.  It  is  certain  that  Asbury  always  breathed 
easier  and  felt  a  surer  confidence  when  his  colleague 
was  within  easy  access.  In  an  entry  in  his  journal 
touching  the  General  Conference  which  met  a  few 
days  later  he  says:  "Bishop  Coke  was  cordially  re- 
ceived, as  my  friend  and  colleague,  to  be  wholly  for 
America,  unless  a  way  should  be  opened  to  France." 

About  one  hundred  preachers  reported  at  the  open- 
ing of  the  General  Conference.  The  new  rule  cut  off 
not  a  few,  and  many  eligibles  were  too  remote  to  un- 
dertake the  long  journey.  But  the  giants  were  there, 
and  the  old  battle  on  the  episcopal  prerogative  had  to 
be  fought  over.  Asbury  described  it  as  "a  stroke  at 
the  presiding  eldership."  There  is  no  record  of  what 
this  stroke  was  exactly;  but  a  later  time  developed  it 
into  a  matter  known  and  read  of  all  men. 

The  entire  work  was  now  divided,  or  rather  consol- 
idated, into  six  Annual  Conferences,  with  definite 
boundaries  and  distinct  names.  These  Conferences 
were  the  New  England,  Philadelphia,  Baltimore,  Vir- 


170  Francis  Ashury. 

ginia,  South  Carolina,  and  Western.  The  first,  as  its 
name  indicated,  included  all  New  England.  The  Phil- 
adelphia  Conference  included  all  of  New  York,  the 
eastern  third  of  Pennsylvania,  New  Jerse}-,  Delaware, 
and  the  eastern  shore  of  Maryland;  in  the  Baltimore 
Conference  were  found  those  parts  of  Pennsylvania 
and  Maryland  not  included  in  the  Philadelphia  Confer- 
ence. The  entire  State  of  Virginia  and  the  northern 
half  of  North  Carolina  were  designated  as  the  Vir- 
ginia Conference,  while  the  remaining  half  of  North 
Carolina  and  all  of  South  Carolina  and  Georgia  went 
to  make  up  the  South  Carolina  Conference.  Kentucky 
and  Tennessee  were  described  as  the  Western  Confer- 
ence. 

And  now  it  was  that  the  interpretative  jurisprudence 
of  Methodism  began.  By  vote  of  the  General  Confer- 
ence the  Bishops  were  directed  to  prepare  explanatory 
notes  on  the  various  sections,  rules,  and  provisions  of 
the  Discipline.  This  was  done,  and  the  "Notes"  were 
printed  in  the  tenth  edition,  the  one  bearing  date  of 
1798,  and  from  these  "Notes"  have  grown  the  official 
"Manuals"  and  other  expanded  commentaries  on  Meth- 
odist law  and  constitution  used  in  the  various  branch- 
es of  the  Church  to-day. 

Bishop  Asbury  expected  and  desired  the  election  by 
the  General  Conference  of  one  or  m^ore  "assistant  bish- 
ops," but  he  set  his  ideal  so  high  that  the  body  hesi- 
tated to  act.  Not,  indeed,  that  there  were  not  men 
in  the  body  who  felt  that  a  fit  man  could  be  found ; 
but  the  fev/  who  felt  that  way  were  unable  to  con- 
centrate the  judgment  of  the  majority.  Asbury  was 
then  asked  to  select  his  own  colleague  or  colleagues. 
This  he  steadily  declined  to  do,  and  the  problem  was 


In  the  Century's  Twilight.  171 

thereby  made  more  difficult  of  handling  than  before. 
It  was  at  this  juncture  that  Dr.  Coke  came  forward 
with  a  proposition  that  seemed  to  offer  an  instant  and 
complete  solution.  His  relations  in  Europe  had  been 
strained  for  some  time,  and  he  was  doubtful  as  to 
what  his  future  course  should  be.  He  now  agreed  to 
settle  in  America  and  give  his  whole  time  to  assist- 
ing Bishop  Asbury,  except  when  he  should  be  engaged 
in  looking  after  the  missions  in  the  West  Indies  or 
France.  The  preachers  w^ere  much  divided  as  to  the 
wisdom  of  adopting  this  course ;  in  fact,  as  we  have 
seen,  there  was  much  opposition  to  Dr.  Coke,  and  his 
apparent  neglect  of  the  Americans  had  not  helped  to 
remove  this  feeling.  But  as  he  was  already  a  Bishop 
of  the  Church,  and  now  agreed  to  serve  under  terms 
satisfactory  to  his  brethren,  and  as  Bishop  Asbury 
strongly  urged  the  adoption  of  that  course,  no  bishop 
was  elected,  and  Dr.  Coke's  proffered  services  were 
accepted.  This  arrangement  promised  much  for  As- 
bury's  relief,  but  it  was  disappointing  almost  to  the 
last  degree. 

The  two  Bishops  proceeded  together  on  the  round 
of  the  Conferences  until  February,  1797,  when  Dr. 
Coke  sailed  for  Europe  to  return  within  a  short  while, 
and  thereafter,  as  both  he  and  the  brethren  expected, 
take  up  his  permanent  residence  in  the  New  World. 
Asbury  was  at  this  time  suffering  acutely  from  his  old 
maladies,  and  during  this  year  was  in  bed  oftener  and 
longer  than  during  any  previous  period.  He  was  con- 
fined fully  six  months  out  of  the  twelve,  and  sorrow- 
fully records  that  he  was  able  to  travel  during  the 
year  not  above  three  thousand  miles.  He  was  also 
much  weighed  down  with  general  despondency.    The 


172  Francis  Ashury. 

going  away  of  his  colleague  caused  him  deep  regret. 
* 'To-morrow,"  he  says,  "my  dear  Coke  sails  for  Eu- 
rope. .  .  .  Strangers  to  the  delicacies  of  Christian 
friendship  know  little  or  nothing  of  the  pain  of  part- 
ing." Beyond  any  question  Dr.  Coke  was  sincere  in 
his  desire  and  purpose  to  return  and  become  a  settled 
bishop  in  America,  but  in  Europe  he  found  conditions 
that  he  had  not  supposed  existed.  He  was,  in  fact, 
agreeably  surprised  to  discover  that  his  brethren  in 
Ireland  and  England  were  demanding  his  release  from 
the  obligation  given  the  Americans,  that  he  might 
serve  the  home  land.  A  year  before  he  had  believed 
his  welcome  in  Great  Britain  to  be  gone.  The  happy 
discovery  of  this  preference  confused  his  feelings  and 
left  him  in  a  strait  betwixt  two. 

So  it  was  that  the  invalid  Asbury  was  left  to  strug- 
gle on  through  his  year  of  toils,  with  none  to  share  the 
heavy  demands  of  his  office.  On  September  23  he 
made  this  entry  in  his  journal :  "I  received  a  letter  from 
Dr.  Coke.  As  I  thought,  so  it  is,  he  is  gone  from  Ire- 
land to  England,  and  will  have  work  enough  when  he 
cometli  here.  .  .  .  It  is  a  doubt  if  the  Doctor 
Cometh  to  America  until  spring,  if  at  all  until  the  Gen- 
eral Conference.  I  am  more  than  ever  convinced  of 
the  propriety  of  the  attempts  I  have  made  to  bring  for- 
ward episcopal  men." 

One  thing  is  clear  from  the  above,  and  from  other 
like  records — namely,  that  Asbury  did  not  hesitate  to 
propose  a  particular  man  for  the  episcopacy.  Whether 
or  not  he  was  wise  in  doing  so  in  his  time  it  is  now 
impossible  to  say ;  but  a  modern  Methodist  sentiment 
has  ruled  strongly  against  "nominations"  for  the  epis- 
copal office. 


In  the  Century's  Tzi'iUght.  173 

Giving  up  hope  of  help  from  his  colleague,  Asbury 
turned,  as  before,  to  his  solitary  task.  He  attempted 
to  meet  the  preachers  in  the  Western  Conference,  and 
even  crossed  the  mountains,  but  was  forced  to  return, 
leaving  the  administration  to  the  presiding  elders. 
More  than  once  he  was  forced  to  call  an  elder  to  hold 
the  Conferences  in  \^irginia  and  other  States.  Jesse 
Lee  was  his  trusted  substitute,  and  at  this  time  he 
strongly  favored  Lee  for  the  episcopacy ;  but  when,  in 
1800,  Lee  failed  of  election  he  and  his  friends  were 
inclined  to  charge  his  defeat  upon  Asbury.  The  story 
is  one  of  painful  human  misunderstandings. 

To  Asbury's  surprise,  no  doubt.  Dr.  Coke  did  re- 
turn to  the  continent  in  the  autumn  of  1797.  On  No- 
vember 15  he  presided  at  the  session  of  the  Virginia 
Conference,  and  to  that  body  presented  an  official  let- 
ter from  the  Conference  in  England  asking  for  his  re- 
lease from  the  obligation  to  reside  in  America.  This  it 
was  not  the  province  of  a  yearly  Conference  to  grant ; 
but  the  preachers  gave  their  personal  consent  to  an 
abrogation  of  the  agreement.  Dr.  Coke  remained  on 
the  continent  until  the  following  spring,  preaching  and 
doing  the  work  of  a  bishop.  He  then  sailed  for  Eu- 
rope, and  returned  not  until  the  General  Conference 
of  1800, 

The  year  1798  had  a  cheerless  opening  for  Asbury. 
He  was  still  extremely  feeble,  and  felt  that  his  end 
was  nigh.  Weak  in  body,  nervous,  and  unable  to  read 
or  study,  he  employed  himself  in  winding  spool  cotton 
and  talking  to  the  children  and  slaves  of  the  home 
in  which  he  was  a  guest.  His  mind  was  abroad  in  the 
vast  new  lands  where  the  scattered  Churches  needed 
his  fostering  oversight ;  but  heaven  had  decreed  to  him 


174  Francis  Asbiiry. 

months  of  inactivity,  and  these  he  spent  in  fireside 
ministry  to  the  little  ones.  Sublime  adaptation!  At 
times  he  was  able  to  do  stints  of  work,  and  such  times 
he  put  on  his  journal,  preparing  it  for  publication. 
The  book  business  of  the  Church  had  greatly  pros- 
pered ;  but  alas !  the  faithful  Book  Steward,  John  Dick- 
ins,  who  to  Asbury  was  as  another  soul,  this  year  fell 
a  victim  to  the  }ellow  fever,  and  v/as  gathered  to  his 
rest.  This  and  news  from  England  of  the  death  of  his 
aged  father  added  heaviness  to  the  continued  bodily 
afflictions  from  which  he  suffered. 

As  the  year  advanced  his  strength  increased,  and  he 
was  again  able  to  take  up  his  visitations ;  but  he  de- 
termined to  give  himself  to  the  simple  work  of  attend- 
ing the  Conference  sessions.  The  last  Conference  of 
the  year  was  held  in  New  England,  where  fifty  preach- 
ers assembled,  such  had  been  the  growth  of  the  work 
in  the  short  space  of  seven  years.  It  was  at  this  Con- 
ference that  Lorenzo  Dow  was  received  on  trial  as  a 
traveling  preacher  and  began  his  extraordinary  career. 
With  the  close  of  this  Conference  Asbury  turned  slow- 
ly tov/ard  the  South,  and  entered  upon  a  short  mid- 
winter stay  in  Charleston,  which  he  had  come  to  re- 
gard with  an  affection  and  Interest  only  second  to  that 
which  he  cherished  for  Baltimore. 

The  episcopal  work  for  the  next  year  (1799)  was 
curtailed  somewhat.  Six  Conferences  only  were  ap- 
pointed, and  these  were  scheduled  to  sit  between  Jan- 
uary and  July.  A  note  appearing  in  the  Minutes  of 
1798  and  1799  reads:  "J^^se  Lee  travels  with  Bishop 
Asbury."  In  previous  years  the  Bishop  had  seldom 
traveled  without  a  companion.  Henry  Willis  had  rid- 
den with  him  in  1785,  on  his  first  episcopal  tour;  Mc- 


In  the  Century's  TzmligJit.  175 

Kendree  had  accompanied  him  in  1792;  while  in  1790 
Whatcoat  had  with  him  crossed  the  mountains  into  the 
new  territory,  and  had  shared  his  hardship  and  ah  but 
tragic  adventures.  Lee  and  Roberts  and  Hull  had 
gone  with  him  about  New  England,  and  no  journey 
had  ever  been  made  to  the  Southwest  without  compan- 
ionship ;  but  the  Conference  appointment  of  a  regular 
chaplain  spoke  the  extreme  point  to  which  his  strength 
had  wasted.  Lee  took  the  burden  of  his  work,  the 
preaching,  the  presiding,  when  the  Bishop  was  not 
equal  to  the  demand.  In  a  v/ord,  the  plan  was  to  ease 
him  of  everything  except  the  stationing  of  the  preach- 
ers and  the  ordinations.  More  than  once  Lee  went 
forward  and  held  the  Conferences,  Asbury  having 
drafted  the  stations  and  anticipated  as  best  he  could 
from  his  sick  room  the  difficulties  of  administration. 

A  somberer  touch  was  soon  to  be  added  to  his  al- 
ready depressed  feelings,  for  in  the  last  days  of  the  old 
century  Washington  had  died,  and  the  news  was  slow- 
ly drifting  toward  him  in  his  far  southern  retreat.  His 
admiration  for  Washington  had  been  boundless.  Two 
men — one  in  the  temporal,  the  other  in  the  spiritual 
realm — had  seemed  to  him  ideal.  These  were  Wash- 
ington and  Wesley.  *T  am  disposed  to  lose  sight  of 
all  but  Washington,  matchless  man !"  he  wrote.  This 
was  the  once  loyal  subject  of  King  George,  whose  con- 
science would  not  permit  him  to  take  a  provincial  oath 
of  conformity.  But  this  also  was  the  man  whose  con- 
science, whose  faith  were  compelled  to  respond  at  last 
to  the  demands  of  right  and  truth.  This  was  indeed 
the  element  of  absolute  greatness  in  Asbury — he  sub- 
mitted to  be  led,  to  follow  truth  whether  manifested  in 
subjective  convictions  or  in  arguments  read  from  the 


176  Francis  Ashury. 

force  and  facts  of  life  about  him.     He  was  seer  and 
hero  in  one. 

And  now  it  was  that  a  thought  which  had  shaped 
itself  in  his  mind  a  year  before  deepened  into  a  pur- 
pose. This  was  that  at  the  coming  session  of  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  he  would  surrender  the  episcopal  office 
into  the  hands  of  younger  and  stronger  men.  He  had 
even  selected,  and  set  his  heart  upon,  the  two  men  who 
were  to  take  up  his  work.  And  thus  it  was  that  he 
saw  the  century  of  Wesley  and  Washington  fade  out. 


CHAPTER    XIV. 
Answering  the  New  Age. 

From  the  New  Year's  session  of  the  Conference  at 
Charleston  to  the  new  century  session  of  the  General 
Conference  was  but  a  step.  After  the  Charleston  sit- 
ting had  concluded  its  labors,  Asbury  dispatched  his 
chaplain,  Jesse  Lee,  on  a  visit  to  a  number  of  the 
more  western  outposts  to  see  that  the  itinerants  were 
in  their  places,  while  he  continued  his  rest  in  Charles- 
ton, if  such  a  laborious  lay-off  as  he  was  there  taking 
could  be  called  rest.  Lee  having  returned  from  his 
mission  early  in  February,  the  two  set  out  on  their 
return  northward,  with  Baltimore  as  a  destination. 

The  General  Conference  opened  in  Baltimore  and 
in  the  canonical  first  week  in  May.  Bishop  Asbury 
describes  this  Conference  as  one  that  indulged  in  much 
*'talk"  and  yet  did  "little  work."  There  v/as  little 
that  needed  to  be  done,  and  surely  it  was  a  great  com- 
fort to  him  that  the  body  kept  its  hands  practically  off 
the  Discipline.  The  Church  is  perhaps  happiest  when 
the  general  body  finds  least  to  do.  Certainly  it  is  a 
salutary  rule  to  avoid  unnecessary  legislation. 

But  several  important  matters  engaged  the  atten- 
tion of  the  Conference.  Two  full  days  were  given  to 
a  consideration  of  the  double  relations  of  Dr.  Coke  to 
Methodism.  It  will  be  remem.bered  that  a  letter  from 
the  English  Conference  had  been  brought  by  him  to 
the  brethren  in  America  in  1797,  requesting  that  he 
be  released  from  his  promise  to  reside  amongst  them, 
since  there  was  the  most  urgent  need  of  his  services 
12  (177) 


178  Francis  Asbury. 

in  both  England  and  Ireland.  This  letter  had  at  first 
been  read  to  the  Virginia  Conference;  and  while  that 
body  had  no  power  to  act  upon  it,  consent  was  given 
so  far  as  its  rights  were  involved,  and  the  whole  mat- 
ter was  left  to  the  General  Conference.  Asbury  had 
written  an  official  letter  to  the  English  brethren  ex- 
plaining the  situation,  and  so  the  request  was  now  to 
be  acted  upon.  The  Conference,  not  without  reluc- 
tance and  regret  (for  Coke  had  come  to  be  better  un- 
derstood and  more  highly  esteemed),  consented  "to 
lend  him  for  a  time"  to  the  English  brethren,  with  the 
understanding  that  he  was  to  return  and  take  up  his 
residence  in  America  so  soon  as  his  business  would 
allow.  It  was  also  expressly  stipulated  that  he  should 
return  for  the  General  Conference  of  1804. 

The  next  action  of  the  Conference  was  to  solicit 
from  Bishop  Asbury  an  expression  of  his  wishes  as  to 
the  General  Superintendency.  For  some  time  previous 
to  the  meeting  of  the  body  the  Bishop  had  seriously 
considered  if  he  should  not  offer  his  resignation.  This 
information  he  gave  out  freely  to  the  preachers.  He 
even  vv^ent  to  the  extent  of  writing  his  resignation, 
with  a  view  to  submitting  it  at  the  first  session  of  the 
General  Conference ;  but  it  seems  that  the  opposition 
to  that  course  was  so  great  that  he  reconsidered  it. 
He  then  submitted  to  know  if  the  Conference  would 
be  satisfied  with  such  partial  service  as  his  shattered 
and  enfeebled  health  would  permit  him  to  give.  In 
answer  to  this  inquiry,  the  Conference  by  unanimous 
vote  expressed  its  gratitude  and  great  obligations  to 
him  for  the  many  and  great  services  he  had  rendered 
the  connection,  and  entreated  him  to  continue  in  the 
General  Superintendency  as  far  as  his  strength  would 


Answering  the  New  Age.  179 

permit.  Both  Asbury  and  the  Conference  regarded 
this  action  as  a  practical  superannuation.  The  man 
whom  the  brethren  saw  before  them,  though  but  five 
and  fifty  years  of  age,  was  broken,  emaciated,  and 
apparently  near  the  grave.  But  the  bow  of  the  mighty 
man  was  only  temporarily  unstrung.  He  had  yet  be- 
fore him  more  than  fifteen  years  of  apostolic  labors. 
He  was  yet  to  catch  the  step  of  the  new  age  and  lead 
the  hosts  to  victories  now  barely  dreamed  of  or  wholly 
unimagined. 

The  mind  of  Bishop  Asbury  being  thus  ascertained, 
the  Conference  by  a  decisive  majority  voted  to  elect 
one  additional  bishop.  This  being  settled,  the  question 
came  up  as  to  what  should  be  his  relation  to  the  two 
original  bishops.  Should  he  be  an  assistant  of  Asbury, 
or  should  he  be  his  equal?  This  afforded  an  oppor- 
tunity for  a  renewal  of  the  old  fight  to  restrict  the  ap- 
pointing power  of  the  bishops ;  but  after  many  amend- 
ments were  offered  and  defeated,  it  was  voted  that  the 
bishop  to  be  elected  should  have  equal  authority  with 
Asbury, 

Following  this  action  the  Conference  proceeded  to 
the  election,  as  ordered.  The  expectation  of  Asbury  was 
that  Jesse  Lee  would  be  selected  by  an  almost  unan- 
imous vote,  and  that  appeared  to  be  the  most  general 
forecast;  but  when  the  vote  was  counted  a  tie  was 
announced,  Jesse  Lee  and  Richard  Whatcoat  receiving 
each  fifty-seven  votes.  A  second  ballot  was  thereupon 
ordered,  and  the  result  was  the  election  of  Richard 
Whatcoat  by  a  majority  of  four  votes.  The  selection 
of  Whatcoat  has  generally  been  regarded  as  a  mis- 
take, and  plainly,  the  circumstances  being  considered, 
it  is  hard  to  be  accounted  for.    He  was  ten  years  older 


l8o  Francis  Ashury. 

than  Asbury,  nearly  as  feeble,  of  an  ascetic  tempera- 
ment, and  proverbially  impractical.  He  was,  however, 
a  blameless,  holy  man,  and  an  enticing  and  effective 
preacher.  But  instead  of  being  wings  or  even  crutches 
to  Asbury,  he  was,  in  the  blunt  language  of  one  of 
Asbury's  biographers,  *'a  burden."  As  a  sort  of  offi- 
cial chaplain  to  his  colleague,  he  visited  the  yearly  Con- 
ferences, presiding  and  preaching  as  there  was  neces- 
sity; while  Asbury  planned  the  stations  and  adminis- 
tered affairs  in  general.  After  only  six  years  of  serv- 
ice the  gentle-spirited  man  was  called  into  rest. 

Reference  has  already  been  made  to  the  fact  that 
Lee  and  his  friends  held  Bishop  Asbury  responsible 
for  his  defeat.  It  has  generally  been  reported  that 
when  the  tie  vote  was  announced  Asbury  was  desired 
to  say  which  of  the  two  he  preferred,  and  this  he  prop- 
erly declined  to  do.  It  is  probably  upon  no  more  se- 
rious ground  than  this  that  Asbury  was  credited  with 
the  election  of  the  one  and  the  defeat  of  the  other.  I 
have  in  my  possession  while  these  pages  are  being 
vv^ritten  an  autograph  letter  from  Lee  to  Asbury  in 
which  their  differences  are  discussed.  It  is  a  very 
humanlike  epistle,  such  as  good  men  have  been  too 
often  betrayed  into  writing.  It  has  passed  through 
the  hands  of  at  least  two  great  historians  of  Metho- 
dism, who  after  nearly  a  hundred  years  treated  it  as 
private;  I  shall  not  presume  to  do  otherwise. 

It  is  worthy  of  note  that  at  this  General  Conference 
the  salary  of  the  preachers  was  raised  from  sixty-four 
to  eighty  dollars  per  annum — that  was  some  recogni- 
tion, in  a  financial  way,  of  the  dawn  of  the  nineteenth 
century.  Bishop  Asbury  is  to  be  credited  with  a  meas- 
ure adopted  at  this  session  requiring  the  yearly  Con- 


Answering  the  Nezu  Age.  i8i 

ference  to  keep  permanent  journals  of  their  proceed- 
ings and  send  them  to  the  General  Conference  for  in- 
spection. By  this  means  the  connectional  administra- 
tion of  Methodism  has  been  assured,  and  a  world  of 
historic  material  created  and  preserved. 

Asbury  at  last  had  a  colleague  upon  whose  presence 
he  could  count.  They  were  already  bosom  friends  and 
intimate  traveling  companions;  so  there  was  no  time 
required  to  get  acquainted  and  agree  upon  an  itinerary. 
Three  of  the  scheduled  Conferences  for  the  year  re- 
mained to  be  held.  The  first  of  these  was  in  Delaware, 
and  thither  the  tvv^o  Bishops,  accompanied  by  Jesse  Lee 
and  others,  repaired.  The  Conference  was  a  Pentecost. 
Bishop  Asbury  estimates  that  one  hundred  conversions 
occurred  during  the  sitting.  This  was  only  a  repeti- 
tion of  what  had  happened  at  the  General  Conference 
a  fortnight  before.  In  fact,  the  revival  which  had 
swept  Virginia,  Maryland,  and  the  other  Southern 
Conferences  had  leaped  across  the  Chesapeake  and 
caught  in  Delaware  and  the  Jerseys,  and  was  moving 
northward  every  day.  When  the  two  Bishops  came 
to  hold  the  Conference  in  New  York  late  in  June,  the 
spirit  of  awakening  was  found  to  be  equally  manifest 
in  that  quarter.  Bishop  Asbury  wrote :  "We  have  had 
a  mighty  stir  in  the  Bowery  Church  for  two  nights 
past  until  after  midnight;  perhaps  twenty  souls  have 
found  the  Lord." 

With  the  customary  end-of-summer,  or  autumn, 
round  through  New  England  and  down  the  ''pleasant 
banks  of  the  Hudson"  Asbury  was  back  in  Maryland 
and  at  "Perry  Hall."  But  he  met  a  sad  situation  in 
that  once  homelike  place.  "The  walls,  the  rooms  no 
longer  vocal,"  he  wrote;  "all  appear  to  be  hung  in 


1 82  Francis  Asbury. 

sackcloth.  I  see  not  the  pleasant  countenances  nor 
hear  the  cheerful  voices  of  ]\Ir.  and  Mrs.  Gough.  She 
is  in  ill  health,  and  writes :  'I  have  left  home  perhaps 
never  to  return/  "  With  a  heavy  heart  he  turned  from 
the  portals  of  his  former  happy  retreat,  and  looked  far 
away  toward  the  wilderness  and  the  mountains  where 
he  was  soon  to  be. 

And  now  all  but  a  miracle  had  happened :  the  afflict- 
ed, broken  man  who  stood  before  the  late  General  Con- 
ference ready  to  resign  his  office  w^as  restored  to 
health,  or  rather  to  what  passed  with  his  thankful 
heart  for  that  blessing.  In  company  with  his  colleague 
and  William  McKendree,  who  had  been  for  several 
years  presiding  elder  on  the  Western  Virginia  District, 
he  set  his  face  toward  the  most  w^estern  stations  of  the 
Church  in  Kentucky  and  Tennessee.  As  they  went  out 
they  heard  the  very  winds  that  outdrove  them  ringing 
with  hosannas,  for  the  revival  had  gathered  volume 
every  day  since  the  General  Conference,  and  one  thou- 
sand conversions  had  been  reported  in  the  Virginia  and 
Baltimore  Conferences.  They  were  to  hear  in  the  far 
wilderness  a  like  sound,  for  the  fire  had  been  borne 
thither  in  zealous  hearts  and  was  burning  fervently. 
In  fact,  the  great  mid-continent  revival  which  marked 
the  opening  of  the  nineteenth  century  had  already 
begun. 

McKendree  was  in  the  vigor  and  promise  of  his 
wonderful  manhood,  and  was  going  out  himself  to  take 
charge  of  a  vast  diocese  in  the  West.  As  presiding 
elder  of  the  "Kentucky  District*'  he  was  to  have  over- 
sight of  the  Methodist  stations  in  the  States  of  Ohio, 
Kentucky,  and  Tennessee.  Later,  his  authority  was 
to  extend  from  the  Scioto  in  Ohio  to  the  Natchez  set- 


Answering  the  New  Age.  183 

tlements  on  the  lower  Mississippi.  Six  years  and  more 
he  wrought  in  and  watched  over  this  imperial  heritage, 
at  the  end  of  which  time  the  Church,  as  by  inspiration, 
called  him  to  the  office  and  work  of  a  bishop. 

Over  an  accustomed  route  the  Bishops  and  their 
companion  entered  Kentucky ;  but  from  Bethel,  where 
the  Conference  was  held  and  where  Bishop  Asbury 
wrestled  again  with  his  "miniature  Cokesbury"  prob- 
lem, they  pushed  on  westward  and  southward  several 
stages  beyond  the  farthest  point  previously  reached 
by  Asbury.  They  v/ere  nov/  in  Middle  Tennessee,  and 
their  destination  was  Nashville,  the  thriving  young 
city  on  the  Cumberland.  In  his  journal  Asbury  says: 
'T  rode  to  Nashville,  long  heard  of  but  not  seen  by  me 
until  now."  The  first  church  of  the  Methodists  in 
that  capital  was  built  of  stone.  It  was  at  this  time  in 
an  unfinished  condition ;  but  Asbury  opined  that  when 
completed  it  would  be  "a  grand  house."  It  was,  how- 
ever, used  on  the  occasion  of  the  visit  of  the  three 
august  men,  each  delivering  a  discourse  within  its 
walls,  McKendree  having  the  honor  of  speaking  first. 
The  church,  which  was  afterwards  named  in  his  hon- 
or, has  had  several  successors,  but  has  maintained  a 
vital  witness  until  this  day. 

The  old-time  camp  meeting,  which  exercised  so  great 
an  influence  on  Methodist  evangelism  for  three-quar- 
ters of  a  century,  originated  amongst  the  Presbyterians 
and  Methodists  in  the  Cumberland  Valley  about  the 
beginning  of  the  nineteenth  century.  It  was  during 
this  journey  that  Asbury  had  his  first  experience  with 
this  Christian  Feast  of  Tabernacles.  The  camp  was 
near  Nashville  at  a  place  called  Dickinson's.  The 
Bishop  draws  a  vivid  picture  of  it:  "The  stand  was 


184  Francis  Asbnry. 

in  the  open  air,  embosomed  In  a  wood  of  lofty  beech 
trees.  .  .  .  Fires  blazing  here  and  there  dispelled 
the  darkness,  and  the  shouts  of  the  redeemed  captives 
and  the  cries  of  precious  souls  struggling  into  life 
broke  the  silence  of  midnight."  They  heard  in  the 
West  the  echo  of  the  Spirit's  work  in  the  East,  and, 
so  assured,  turned  their  faces  thankfully  toward  the 
sunrise.  Passing  out  of  Tennessee,  the  two'  Bishops 
entered  North  Carolina,  and,  thridding  the  scenic 
course  of  the  French  Broad  River,  they  crossed  the 
mountains  and  came  again  into  the  salty  airs  of  the 
Atlantic  seaboard. 

The  second  year  of  the  century  was  distinguished 
by  the  recovery  of  the  membership  lost  to  the  connec- 
tion by  the  O'Kelley  schism.  This  year  the  numbers 
in  society  reached  approximately  the  figures  reported 
in  1791,  the  year  before  O'Kelley's  departure;  but  the 
autumn  of  1801  and  the  spring  of  the  succeeding  year 
totaled  a  net  addition  to  Methodism  of  nearly  fourteen 
thousand  members,  so  mighty  and  so  general  had  the 
revival  been. 

This  year  also  brought  Asbury  a  new  and  effective 
champion  in  the  controversy  with  O'Kelley.  This 
astute  polemic  was  Nicholas  Snethen,  a  young  and 
eloquent  itinerant  whom  Asbury  chose  to  be  his  trav- 
eling companion  during  much  of  the  Conference  year. 
Snethen's  answer  to  O'Kelley  proved  *'an  end  of  con- 
troversy," and  the  O'Kelley  ghost  was  permanently 
laid.  Snethen  afterwards  achieved  much  distinction, 
and  was  elected  chaplain  to  Congress;  but  the  record 
had  an  anomalous  end:  he  at  last  rejected  the  idea  of 
the  episcopacy  which  he  had  defended,  and  became  one 
of  the  founders  of  the  Methodist  Protestant  Church. 


Anszvering  the  New  Age.  185 

Nevertheless,  this  honest  departure  has  never  discount- 
ed him  in  Episcopal  Methodist  annals.  His  name  is 
a  heritage  of  the  whole  Wesleyan  house. 

It  was  accounted  by  Asbury  a  providence  that  the 
sitting  of  the  Virginia  Conference  brought  him  into 
that  State  about  the  time  of  the  death  of  his  much 
revered  friend,  the  Rev.  Devereux  Jarratt.  Although 
Jarratt  had  not  maintained  his  former  close  and  cor- 
dial relations  with  the  Methodists  after  the  organiza- 
tion of  the  societies  into  a  Church,  his  relations  with 
Asbury  had  never  been  disturbed.  His  evangelical 
spirit  had  left  him  in  constant  isolation  from  his  High- 
church  brethren,  and  the  memories  of  the  old  Virginia 
days  of  the  first  revival  had  been  mutually  sweet  to 
him  and  Brother  Asbury.  The  Methodist  Bishop 
preached  the  funeral  of  the  dead  churchman,  and  left 
in  his  journal  a  tender  and  grateful  tribute  to  his 
memory. 

In  October  the  episcopal  party  was  in  South  Caro- 
lina. The  disturbance  of  the  public  mind  in  that  State 
over  the  very  stringent  rule  and  recommendations  on 
slavery  voted  by  the  General  Conference  of  1800  was 
great,  and  Asbury  was  much  perplexed.  He  himself, 
while  most  pronouncedly  antislavery,  saw  the  necessi- 
ty for  handling  the  matter  delicately  and  discreetly, 
and  for  the  most  part  his  example  was  followed  by 
the  preachers.  He  came  at  last  to  doubt  if  the  legis- 
lation of  the  Church  on  the  subject  had  been  wise,  and 
wished  for  some  wholesome  and  dependable  rule.  He 
did  not  live  to  see  enacted  the  very  wise  legislation  of 
1816,  under  which  the  Church  lived  in  undivided  pros- 
perity until  1844. 

But  the  observant  Bishop  found  in  South  Carolina 


i86  Francis  Anbury. 

at  this  time  a  matter  more  in  the  way  of  rehgion  than 
any  controversy  on  either  economics  or  ethics.  Eli 
Whitney's  cotton  gin  was  making  cotton  the  most  mar- 
ketable and  the  most  profitable  article  produced  in  all 
America.  This  meant  not  only  the  perpetuity  of  slav- 
ery for  an  age,  but  it  meant  the  rapid  accumulation 
of  wealth  and  the  consequent  neglect  of  religion  by 
those  engaged  in  the  great  and  multiplying  enterprises 
thus  begotten.  In  reviewing  the  outlook  the  unworldly 
Bishop  remarked:  "I  cannot  record  great  things  upon 
religion  in  his  quarter,  hiit  cotton  sells  high."  The  his- 
tory of  the  fleecy  staple  has  been  a  tragedy  as  well  as 
a  triumph. 

The  names  of  the  Annual  Conferences  appear  for 
the  first  time  in  the  Minutes  of  1802.  The  districts  had 
been  entered  under  appropriate  names  in  the  records 
of  the  previous  year.  Thus  was  perfected  the  method 
of  designating  the  larger  and  smaller  divisions  of  the 
connection  which  obtains  in  all  the  branches  of  Ameri- 
can I^Iethodism  to-day.  There  were  seven  Confer- 
ences in  all,  and  the  two  Bishops  attended  these  to- 
gether, beginning  with  the  Kentucky  and  ending  with 
the  New  England. 

The  deepest  sorrow  of  Asbury's  life  was  visited 
upon  him  while  he  was  presiding  at  the  Baltimore  Con- 
ference. The  first  winds  of  April — the  breath  of 
spring  that  woke  the  peach  and  apple  buds  along  the 
highlands  of  the  Chesapeake — brought  from  England 
a  ship  with  tidings  of  the  death  of  his  mother.  After 
thirty-one  years  of  absence  from  that  "very  dear 
mother,"  his  love  for  her  was  as  tender  and  as  loyal 
as  when  a  lad  he  sat  at  her  knee  in  their  humble 
Handsworth  cottage.    A  tear-stained  page  in  his  home- 


Anszvering  the  Neiu  Age.  187 

\y  diary  is  devoted  to  her  blessed  memory.  Regularly 
his  itinerant  salary  was  divided  with  her,  and  it  was 
this  devotion  that  explained  in  part  the  fact  that  he  had 
himself  not  dreamed  of  wife  and  home. 

Later  in  the  year  news  came  to  him  that  his  long- 
time antagonist,  O'Kelley,  was  ill.  Asbury  promptly 
dispatched  two  of  his  preachers  as  messengers  to  the 
sick  man's  chamber.  The  result  was  that  O'Kelley 
expressed  a  desire  for  a  visit  from  his  former  asso- 
ciate. Asbury  promptly  responded  to  the  request,  and 
the  two  so  long  estranged  met  in  peace  and  commun- 
ion. No  reference  was  made  to  the  sundering  issues 
that  had  long  lain  between  them ;  but  they  prayed  and 
parted  in  love,  perhaps,  as  each  one  thought,  to  meet 
no  more  on  earth,  and  so  it  proved.  In  the  original 
papers  of  Bishop  McKendree  I  find  an  autograph  letter 
of  a  member  of  the  General  Conference  of  1816  who 
had  had  an  interview  with  O'Kelley,  and  in  this  letter 
expressed  the  belief  that  O'Kelley  and  his  preachers 
were  ripe  for  a  compact  of  reconciliation;  but  if  any 
attempt  to  accommodate  was  ever  made,  it  failed. 

Bishop  Whatcoat's  health  had  now  begun  to  serious- 
ly fail,  and  for  part  of  the  next  year  he  was  left  out 
of  the  episcopal  itinerary.  Bishop  Asbury  being  accom- 
panied into  the  West  at  first  by  Wilson  Lee  and  then 
by  Henry  Boehm,  a  son  of  Martin  Boehm,  a  coadjutor 
of  Otterbein  in  the  conduct  of  the  German  Connection. 

At  the  midyear  Conferences  Asbury  discovered  a 
distressing  condition  of  Church  finances.  The  Balti- 
more Conference,  indeed,  was  the  only  one  on  the 
continent  that  appeared  to  be  solvent.  At  this  distance, 
that  which  was  made  a  virtue  of  by  the  early  Metho- 
dists— nam.ely,  the  cheapness  of  the  cost  at  which  they 


1 88  Francis  Ashury. 

maintained  a  ministry — is  seen  to  be  tlie  weak  point  of 
tlieir  system.  In  the  midst  of  ever-multiplying  plenty 
the  liberality  and  large-spiritedness  of  the  Church  were 
repressed  by  a  mistaken  standard  of  asceticism  set  for 
the  ministry.  It  retarded  the  institutional  growth  of 
the  connection,  and  made  the  incipient  causes  of  mis- 
sions, education,  and  Church  extension  unnecessarily 
difficult.  It  also  restricted  whatever  growth  was  real- 
ized in  these  directions  to  an  ideal  both  imperfect  and 
disparaging.  It  was  one  of  the  struggles  of  ^letho- 
dism  to  break  over  these  precedents  and  clothe  itself 
with  the  progressive  spirit  of  the  new  age.  An  early 
symptom  of  this  rennaissance  was  the  gift  about  this 
time  of  three  hundred  pounds  by  Miss  De  Peyster  "for 
the  bishops  and  clergy  of  the  Methodist  Church."  A 
similar  gift  had  been  noted  by  Asbury  some  years 
before. 

The  New  England  Conference  for  1803  was  held 
in  Boston.  A  Methodist  chapel  had  been  completed 
and  furnishedj  and  the  Conference  sat  within  sight 
of  the  dome  of  the  proud  new  Statehouse  which  As- 
bury pronounced  ''one  of  the  most  simply  elegant 
buildings  in  the  United  States."  This  session  of  the 
Conference  in  the  land  of  the  Puritans  was  distin- 
guished by  the  ordination  to  the  eldership  of  Joshua 
Soule,  a  man  of  whom  Methodism  was  destined  to 
hear,  and  to  the  power  of  whose  personality  it  was  to 
respond  in  history-making  and  history-marking  crises. 

The  New  York  Conference  met  at  historic  and  pic- 
turesque Ashgrove,  on  the  upper  Hudson.  To  Ash- 
grove  Philip  Embury,  the  Haecks,  and  other  loyal 
Methodists  of  New  York  had  emigrated  at  the  break- 
ing out  of  the  Revolutionary  War,  this  territory  being 


Ansi^'cring  the  Neiv  Age.  189 

then  within  the  British  Hnes.  Here  Embury  had  gath- 
ered a  society,  and  here,  dying  as  the  result  of  an  acci- 
dent, he  was  buried,  and  here  his  grave  may  still  be 
seen.  The  place  is  now  within  the  limits  of  the  city 
of  Albany ;  but  the  name  has  been  given  to  the  Church 
whose  history  preserves  the  traditions  of  the  ''Pala- 
tines." 

As  Asbury  turned  from  the  Conferences  in  the 
East  to  take  up  his  journey  to  the  frontier  West,  he 
rejoiced  in  spirit  over  the  ingatherings  of  the  year.  It 
shows  how  careful  and  exact  he  was  in  all  things  that 
he  should  in  his  offhand  ''computations"  have  missed 
the  official  figures  afterwards  compiled  by  only  a  tri- 
fling difference.  "By  a  fair  and  accurate  computation," 
he  wrote,  "I  judge  that  we  have  added,  exclusive  of 
the  dead,  the  removed,  and  the  expelled  and  with- 
drawn, 13,300.  Our  total  for  the  year  1803  is  104,070 
members.  In  1771  there  were  about  300  Methodists 
in  New  York,  250  in  Philadelphia,  and  a  few  in  Jersey. 
I  then  longed  for  100,000;  now  I  want  200,000 — nay, 
thousands  upon  thousands." 

The  Cumberland  camp  meeting  idea  so  impressed 
Asbury  that  his  advocacy  of  it  brought  the  preachers 
in  the  eastward  pioneer  territor}^  to  adopt  it.  A  great 
camp  was  projected  on  the  Monongahela  for  August, 
and  to  this  camp  Bishop  Asbury  and  his  companion 
rode  on  their  v/ay  into  Ohio  and  the  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  Districts  of  the  Western  Conference.  A 
multitude  of  four  thousand  people  attended  the  min- 
istrations of  the  Sabbath  in  the  wilderness  tabernacle. 
The  scene  was  midway  betv/een  the  pentecostal  centers 
of  the  East  and  the  West. 

In  crossing  the  Ohio  River  into  the  great  new  State 


190  Francis  Asbiiry. 

of  that  name  the  Bishop  and  his  party  had  a  sight  of 
the  flotilla  of  Colonel  Meriwether  Lewis,  recently  com- 
missioned by  President  Jefferson  to  explore  the  vast 
Northwestern  regions  watered  by  the  Missouri  and 
Columbia  Rivers.  In  the  earlier  months  of  the  year 
the  ''Louisiana  Purchase''  had  been  completed  with  the 
ministers  of  Napoleon,  and  the  enterprising  President 
was  making  haste  to  fix  and  claim,  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  Great  Britain,  the  far  Northwestern  bounda- 
ries. Thus  silently  and  without  exchange  of  saluta- 
tions at  the  fords  of  the  shrunken  river  passed  the 
chiefs  bent  on  empire,  the  one  to  extend  the  dominion 
of  the  spiritual  and  the  other  the  dominion  of  the 
temporal. 

Li  Ohio  the  Bishop  enjoyed  the  hospitality  and  fel- 
lowship of  Governor  Tiffin,  the  first  executive  of  the 
State,  and  "a  distinguished  figure  in  the  history  of  early 
Methodism  west  of  the  AUeghanies."  In  Kentucky 
he  was  the  guest  of  a  scarcely  less  distinguished  man 
and  Methodist.  This  was  Dr.  Hinde,  who  had  been  a 
surgeon  under  General  Wolfe,  the  hero  of  Quebec. 
Before  his  contact  with  the  Methodists  he  was  an  infi- 
del. Llis  wife  being  converted  under  the  preaching 
of  the  itinerants,  he  blistered  her  head  ''to  cure  her  of 
her  madness."  "But,  blessed  be  heaven,"  he  used  to 
say,  "that  blister  cured  me  of  my  madness."  He 
heard  the  Methodists,  was  converted,  and  became  a 
saint.  Perhaps  his  greatest  distinction  is  that  he  was 
the  maternal  grandfather  of  Bishop  Hubbard  Hinde 
Kavanaugh,  one  of  the  Boanerges  of  Southern  Meth- 
odism. 

New  Year's  Day,  1804,  found  Bishop  Coke  again 
in  his  sometime  see  in  America.    The  first  yearly  Con- 


Answering  the  New  Age.  191 

ference  was  held  at  Augusta,  Ga.,  with  Coke  presid- 
ing. Asbury  made  the  appointments,  amongst  them 
one  for  Bishop  Coke  to  preach  aU  the  way  from  South 
CaroHna  to  Boston  before  the  meeting  of  the  General 
Conference.  "I  mark  this  year,"  he  wrote,  "as  the 
greatest  that  has  ever  yet  been  known  in  this  land  for 
religion."  In  passing  through  Charleston  he  preached 
in  ''the  great  house"  which  Hammett  had  built  and 
which  had  lately  come  into  the  hands  of  the  regular 
Methodists. 

We  have  already  referred  to  one  of  Asbury's  reasons 
for  choosing  a  celibate  life.  In  his  journal  of  this 
year  he  sets  down  seventeen  others,  each  one  of  which 
might  be  considered  by  a  woman  as  sufficient.  To  his 
plea  in  extenuation  he  adds  this  observation:  "If  I 
have  done  wrong,  I  hope  God  and  the  sex  will  forgive 
me.  It  is  my  duty  now  to  bestow  the  pittance  I  have 
to  give  upon  the  widows  and  fatherless  girls  and  poor 
married  men."  There  is  a  delicious  touch  of  humor 
in  that  last  clause.  In  this  connection  the  note  is  sug- 
gestive that  he  proceeded  immediately  to  Norfolk  and 
organized  a  woman's  society,  on  which  act  he  com- 
ments as  follows:  "At  a  meeting  of  the  women  we 
laid  the  foundations  of  a  female  charitable  society  sim- 
ilar in  plan  to  those  in  New  York  and  Baltimore,  but 
more  liberal.  May  this  live,  grow,  and  flourish  when 
I  am  cold  and  forgotten !"  Are  not  the  strongly  organ- 
ized and  splendidly  efficient  women's  missionary,  par- 
sonage, and  aid  societies  in  modern  Methodism  an  an- 
swer to  this  apostolic  prayer  ? 

As  the  General  Conference  approached,  Asbury  had 
his  usual  introspections,  and  rigidly  reviewed  his  own 
motives.    In  his  journal  he  wrote :  "I  lived  long  before 


192  Francis  Asbury. 

I  took  upon  me  the  superintendency  of  the  Methodist 
Church  in  America,  and  now  I  bear  it  as  a  heavy  load. 
I  hardly  bear  it,  and  yet  dare  not  cast  it  down,  for  fear 
God  and  my  brethren  should  cast  me  down  for  such 
abandonment  of  duty/' 

The  General  Conference  met  on  May  7,  1804,  and, 
as  always  before,  in  Baltimore.  Only  one  hundred 
and  seven  voting  members  were  present.  There  was 
no  absorbing  issue  before  the  Church.  Bishop  Coke 
as  Senior  Bishop  presided,  and  from  the  chair  read 
the  Discipline  section  by  section,  and  the  Conference 
reviewed  each  point  and  considered  if  revisal  or  im- 
provement should  be  attempted.  The  Book  Concern, 
which  since  the  death  of  Jolm  Dickins  had  been  under 
the  care  of  Ezekiel  Cooper,  was  ordered  to  be  removed 
from  Philadelphia  to  New  York.  The  Twenty-Third 
Article  of  the  Confession  was  changed  so  as  to  recog- 
nize the  nationality  of  the  United  States.  A  time  limit 
of  two  years  was  imposed  upon  the  pastorate.  This 
was  done  on  a  motion  that  had  been  preceded  by  no 
particular  agitation  or  demand,  and  which  apparently 
provoked  but  little  discussion  on  the  Conference  floor, 
so  inconsequential  was  the  origin  of  a  rule  which,  with 
slight  modification,  held  through  nearly  a  hundred 
years  in  the  largest  body  of  Methodism  in  America, 
and  still  holds  in  that  body  which  is  second  in  impor- 
tance on  the  continent. 

Asbury  made  several  motions,  it  being  then  admissi- 
ble for  a  Bishop  to  take  the  floor^  the  most  important 
of  which  was  that  an  assistant  book  steward  and  editor 
be  elected,  which  vote  was  put  and  carried.  The  ques- 
tion of  slavery  was,  as  usual,  taken  up,  and  a  motion 
prevailed  that  the  bishops  be  authorized  to  write  a 


Answering  the  New  Age.  193 

chapter  which  should  carry  a  section  acceptable  to  the 
North  and  another  acceptable  to  the  South.  Asbury 
declined  to  undertake  such  a  task.  The  result  was  that 
the  former  rule  was  much  modified,  and  the  Confer- 
ences in  the  South  were  exempted  from  its  operations. 
After  agreeing  to  a  continuance  of  the  arrangement  for 
Dr.  Coke  to  retain  his  residence  in  Europe,  laying 
again  the  ghost  of  the  anti-presiding  eldership  agita- 
tion and  disposing  of  sundry  impracticable  motions 
and  schemes,  the  General  Conference  adjourned. 

Coke,  Asbury,  and  Whatcoat  were  never  to  meet 
again  in  General  Conference.  This  was  Coke's  last 
visit  to  the  Church  in  America.  Bishop  Whatcoat  died 
in  1806,  and  so  from  that  date  Bishop  Asbury  was 
again  alone  in  the  episcopacy  until  the  election,  in  1808, 
of  his  masterful  and  apostolic  associate,  William  Mc- 
Kendree. 
13 


CHAPTER   XV. 

Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution. 

With  the  beginning  of  the  second  quadrennium  of 
the  new  century  Methodism  had  entered  upon  the  era 
of  the  making  and  settHng  of  a  permanent  constitution 
for  its  government.  AUhough  Bishop  Asbury  was  not 
the  originator  of  the  idea  of  a  delegated  General  Con- 
ference, or  of  the  •  constitution  under  which  it  was  to 
enact  laws  and  administer  power  in  the  Church,  he 
was  in  keenest  sympathy  with  the  leaders  and  the  ideals 
they  represented.  He  was  also  in  a  position  to  abet 
their  plans  and  secure  their  success  in  the  end.  This 
it  is  the  purpose  of  the  present  section  of  our  study 
to  show,  as  the  narrative  proceeds  in  orderly  detail. 

Four  yearly  Conferences  remained  to  be  held  after 
the  General  Conference  of  1804.  Three  of  these — the 
Philadelphia,  the  New  York,  and  the  New  England — 
the  bishops  attended  together.  From  the  North  they 
descended  by  the  accustomed  route  of  the  Hudson 
Valley  and  the  Highlands,  and  finally  drew  rein  at 
Baltimore,  whence  they  had  originally  set  out,  having 
been  somewhat  more  than  two  months  on  the  round. 
Whatcoat  was  in  failing  health,  while  Asbury,  having 
suffered  a  return  of  former  symptoms  and  having  pro- 
cured to  have  himself  blistered  on  the  neck  and  foot, 
cupped  and  bled,  and  drenched  with  heroic  emetics, 
was — though,  strange  to  say,  alive — in  a  mood  to  make 
his  will  and  again  meditate  resignation  from  office. 
The  empiricism  to  which  he  submitted  is  at  this  day 
unbelievable. 
(194) 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      195 

It  is  to  be  noted  that  this  year  the  connection  suf- 
fered a  loss  of  forty-eight  itinerant  preachers  by  reason 
of  their  taking  the  local  relation.  This  was  largely 
due  to  the  parsimonious  allowances  made  for  the  regu- 
lar pastors.  Several  of  these  retiring  brethren  went 
promptly  into  pulpits  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal 
Church,  where  better  salaries  invited  them,  and  where 
as  men  of  action  they  were  both  wanted  and  welcomed. 
Thus  early  did  Methodism  begin  to  supply  its  younger 
Anglican  sister  with  ministers,  a  service  which  she  has 
continued  to  render  to  this  day.  In  this  irregular  way 
the  evangelical  spirit  has  been  much  aided  in  that  com- 
munion. It  is  to  the  credit  of  Bishop  Asbury  that  he 
treated  these  departing  brethren  with  much  courtesy, 
and  even  hospitably  sped  their  going.  Of  one  promi- 
nent case  he  wrote:  "I  am  willing  that  he  should  be- 
long to  the  (Episcopal)  Church  people.  I  believe  that 
they  have  more  need  of  him  than  the  ]\Iethodists  have." 
And  this  in  no  sinister  spirit. 

In  August  the  journey  into  the  Western  Conference 
was  begun.  On  the  way  westward  Asbury  stopped  to 
visit  with  his  friends,  the  Coughs,  who  were  sojourn- 
ing at  the  Warm  Springs.  Both  the  master  of  'Terry 
Hall"  and  his  wife  were  invalids,  and  it  was  only  a  few 
years  after  this  that  the  master  of  the  Hall  passed 
away,  with  his  faithful  friend  and  Bishop  at  his  bed- 
side. Asbury  knew  no  more  devoted  friendship  than 
that  with  Harry  Dorsey  Cough. 

The  two  Bishops  had  proceeded  on  their  western 
tour  as  far  as  the  Ohio  region  of  Western  Virginia, 
when  Bishop  Asbury  was  prostrated,  and  further  ad- 
vance became  impossible.  Whatcoat  offered  to  con- 
tinue the  journey  alone ;  but  that  was  both  impractica- 


196  Francis  Ashury. 

ble  and  undesirable.  On  a  general  proposition,  his 
health  was  more  precarious  than  that  of  Asbury's,  and 
Asbury  saw  that  it  would  be  better  to  leave  the  hold- 
ing of  the  Conference  to  the  ''President  Elder,"  Wil- 
liam McKendree,  whom  he  already  foreknew  as  a  col- 
league. 

There  was  now  nothing  left  the  two  invalid  Bish- 
ops but  to  drift  slowly  through  the  eleven  weeks  of 
autumn  toward  their  winter  asylum  at  Charleston,  at 
which  point  the  first  Conference  for  1805  was  to  be 
held.  A  stop  was  made  at  "Rembert  Hall,"  where 
Asbury  tarried  a  time  and  meditated  upon  the  death 
of  three  of  the  most  efficient  preachers  of  the  connec- 
tion— Wilson  Lee,  Nicholas  Watters,  and  Tobias  Gib- 
son— and  where  Conference  memoirs  of  the  two  latter 
were  prepared. 

Francis  Asbury  was  now  the  best-known  as  well  as 
the  best-beloved  man  in  all  America.  In  every  city  in 
the  republic  from  Savannah  to  Boston  he  counted  his 
personal  friends  by  the  scores  and  hundreds.  In  every 
village,  on  every  farm  and  plantation  lying  near  the 
great  highways,  in  the  remotest  western  settlements, 
his  name  was  familiar  to  merchant  and  laborer,  to 
master  and  slave,  to  woodman  and  squatter.  The 
newspapers  heralded  his  comings  and  goings,  and  peo- 
ple of  every  rank  and  station  attended  upon  his  min- 
istry. 

I  have  nowhere  in  the  course  of  this  narrative  at- 
tempted to  describe  Bishop  Asbury's  preaching  or  to 
appraise  his  pulpit  powers.  That  could  not  well  be 
done.  His  sermons  ansv/ered  to  no  criteria  and  his 
powers  were  entirely  too  unique  to  be  described  \n 
terms  of   ordinary  criticism.     He  was   not  a  great 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      197 

preacher.  He  had  neither  the  attainments  nor  the  gifts 
to  make  a  great  preacher ;  and  yet  there  must  have  been 
an  indescribable  skill  displayed  in  his  manner  of  han- 
dling a  subject.  He  was  simple,  direct,  evangelical. 
Above  everything,  he  was  in  earnest.  His  voice  was 
musical,  his  appearance  reverend  and  commanding. 
It  was  impossible  to  separate  the  sermon  from  the 
man.  His  life  coalesced  with  his  gospel,  and  therein 
was  his  power.  That  it  was  that  made  him  so  mighty 
amongst  men. 

It  was  now  near  the  end  of  Thomas  Jefferson's  first 
term  in  the  Presidency,  and  the  political  parties  had 
pretty  well  defined  their  issues.  Asbury  discovered 
that  the  Methodists  were  not  disposed  to  hold  together 
on  political  matters,  but  showed  an  independency  of 
thought  and  action  which  he  greatly  commended.  "Our 
people  think  for  themselves,"  he  observed ;  "and  are  as 
apt  to  differ  in  politics  (so  do  the  preachers)  and  di- 
vide at  the  hustings  as  those  of  any  other  denomina- 
tion; and  surely  they  are  not  seekers  of  the  offices  of 
this  world's  profit  or  honor.  If  they  were,  what  might 
they  not  gain  in  many  parts  of  the  United  States  !'* 
Even  then  they  held  a  balance  of  power  by  reason  of 
their  preponderance  as  a  religious  body.  But  what 
Asbury  here  observed  is  still  true — namely,  that  Meth- 
odism is  so  thoroughly  a  religion  of  spiritual  motives 
and  ideals  that  it  can  never  be  enslaved  by  a  partisan 
political  mastery.  There  is  in  it  too  much  of  the  in- 
tellectual and  ethereal  to  admit  of  its  being  employed 
for  any  human  aggrandizement. 

The  health  of  both  Asbury  and  Whatcoat  was  im- 
proved by  their  brief  winter  rest,  and  they  set  off 
from   Charleston  to  visit  the  series  of  Conferences 


198  Francis  Asbiiry. 

appointed  for  1805.  At  Fayetteville,  N.  C,  an  early 
capital  of  the  State,  the  Methodists  had  no  house  of 
worship  except  a  plain  structure  which  had  been  built 
by  Henry  Evans,  a  most  remarkable  negro  local 
preacher.  It  was  known  as  the  African  Church.  When 
Asbury  reached  this  place  in  his  northward  journey, 
he  was  offered  the  Statehouse  for  his  service,  but  he 
declined.  Then  the  Presbyterian  pastor  tendered  him 
his  church,  which  was  a  large  and  pretentious  build- 
ing, but  this  he  also  courteously  declined,  and  went 
with  his  congregation  to  the  meaner  structure  used 
by  his  own  people,  saying:  "Home  is  home;  ours  is 
plain,  to  be  sure;  but  it  is  our  duty  to  condescend  to 
men  of  low  estate."  Asbury  was  a  Methodist  Bishop. 
If  there  were  those  who  questioned  his  ecclesiastical 
right  to  bear  the  title  of  bishop,  there  was  none  who 
doubted  his  right  to  wear  the  name  which  qualified  his 
title. 

Through  episcopal  indorsement  and  recommenda- 
tions the  camp  meeting  was  coming  into  vogue  in  the 
Atlantic  Conferences,  and  Asbury 's  journal  gives  ac- 
count of  a  whole  series  of  these  extraordinary  gather- 
ings, attended  often  by  from  six  to  eight  thousand  peo- 
ple, and  at  which  literally  thousands  in  the  aggregate 
were  converted.  The  battle  for  spiritual  dominion  was 
being  waged  on  every  side.  In  some  Conferences  the 
supply  of  ministers  was  sadly  inadequate;  in  others  a 
number  could  be  spared,  and  so  the  transfer  systerm 
was  early  developed.  It  was  the  period  of  evangelism 
extraordinary.  Of  pastoral  work  in  the  proper  sense 
there  was — there  could  be — little,  except  what  was 
done  through  the  class  leaders  who  were  in  that  and 
the  earlier  day  really  an  order  of  subpastors.     The 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      199 

preacher  himself  was  never  in  one  stay.  The  more 
ground  he  covered  and  the  more  sermons  he  preached, 
the  better  he  met  the  ideal  and  the  need  of  his  office. 
Pastoral  work  under  these  conditions  was  all  but  im- 
possible. I  Asbury  estimated  for  this  period  twenty 
thousand  additions  to  the  membership  of  the  Church 
and  twenty  thousand  deficit  on  quarterage,  j  He  thank- 
fullyToncluded  that  it  was  better  to  have  grace  than 
gold,  and  went  on  struggling  with  the  deficits.  The 
age  of  pastoral  teaching  and  training,  as  also  of  sys- 
tematic giving,  v\'as  yet  to  come.  The  evangelism  of 
the  time  was  intensive  to  an  extraordinary  degree,  but 
the  mastery  of  congregations  awaited  the  completion 
of  the  campaign  of  conquest. 

In  July  Asbury  received  a  letter  from  Dr.  Coke  an- 
nouncing his  marriage.  With  this  announcement  came 
the  intimation  that  he  would  like  to  settle  permanently 
in  the  superintendency  in  America,  provided  the  requi- 
site number  of  Conferences  vvould  recall  him.  The 
experienced  Asbury  saw  how  impossible  such  a  prop- 
osition was,  and  counted  Coke  as  lost  to  the  work  on 
this  side  the  Atlantic.  A  benedict  Methodist  Bishop 
was  as  useless  in  America  at  that  day  as  a  king.  The 
Annual  Conferences  declined  to  recall  him.  Later  he 
resubmitted  his  proposition  looking  to  an  equal  division 
of  the  connection  between  himself  and  Asbury;  but 
the  General  Conference  followed  a  wiser  and  more 
Methodistic  plan  in  providing  for  the  superintendency 
of  the  Church. 

The  two  American  Bishops  felt  equal  this  year  to 
the  task  of  riding  again  the  mighty  circuit  of  the  West; 
and  this  they  did,  passing,  as  in  1803,  through  Ohio 
and  then  down  into  Kentucky  and  Tennessee,  across 


200  Francis  Asbury. 

the  vast  diocese,  quaking  with  revival,  over  which 
McKendree  was  still  presiding.  Asbury  had  made  a 
simple,  but  to  him  and  the  Church  a  most  important, 
discovery.  It  was  now  possible,  if  only  barely  so,  to 
cross  the  mountains  and  traverse  even  the  great  west- 
ern reserves  in  a  wheeled  vehicle,  since  a  semblance 
of  highways  was  appearing.  He  accordingly  before 
leaving  the  East  provided  himself  with  a  stout  light 
road  carriage,  which  he  describes  as  a  "Jersey  wagon." 
Thus  equipped  he  was  able  to  travel  and  make  long 
journeys,  which  had  become  im.possible  to  him  on 
horseback.  For  the  remaining  ten  years  of  his  life 
he  seldom  traveled  otherwise  than  in  a  sulky  or  light 
barouche,  which  became  as  much  identified  with  his 
apostolate  as  had  his  faithful  gray  before. 

At  the  turn  of  the  year  he  complained  of  failing 
eyesight,  and  admonished  himself  thus:  "I  must  keep 
my  eyes  for  the  Bible  and  the  Conferences."  Within 
a  week,  or  ten  days  at  most,  this  entry  follows :  "From 
Monday  to  Saturday,  among  other  occupations,  I  have 
been  employed  in  reading  a  thousand  pages  of  Mr. 
Atmore's  Memorial  and  Mr.  Wesley's  Journal."  It 
was  in  this  way  that  he  spared  his  eyes,  as  it  was  in 
this  way  that  he  spared  his  whole  body. 

Bishop  Whatcoat  started  out  with  his  colleague  to 
attend  the  Conferences  of  1806;  but  early  in  April  the 
summon  came  to  halt.  He  was  then  at  Dover,  in  the 
State  of  Delaware,  and  in  the  home  of  noble  Richard 
Bassett;  and  here  he  awaited  his  translation,  which 
came  on  July  5,  1806.  In  the  memoir  written  by  As- 
bury and  read  before  the  Conferences  of  the  ensuing 
year  appears  this  Asburian  sentiment:  "Although 
Bishop  Whatcoat  v/as  not  a  m.an  of  great  erudition,  yet 


Abetting  the  Makers  of\the  Constitution.      201 

probably  he  had  as  much  learning  as  some  of  the 
apostles  and  primitive  bishops,  and  doubtless  sufficient 
for  the  work  of  the  ministry."  The  memoir  closed 
with  this  interesting  summary: 

"Converted  September  3,  1758. 
Sanctified  March  28,  1761. 
Began  to   travel  in   1769. 
Elected  Superintendent  in   May,   1800. 
Died  in  Dover,  Delaware,  July  5,  i8c6." 

In  view  of  the  certain  early  death  of  Bishop  What- 
coat  and  the  feebleness  of  Bishop  Asbury,  a  proposition 
had  been  put  on  foot  by  the  New  York  Conference  to 
call  an  electoral  Conference  of  seven  elders  from  each 
of  the  seven  Annual  Conferences  to  meet  at  Baltimore 
on  July  4,  1807,  for  the  purpose  of  "electing,  organiz- 
ing, and  establishing  a  permanent  superintendency  and 
for  other  purposes."  Bishop  Asbury  favored  the  cre- 
ation of  such  an  electoral  college,  and  four  Conferences 
indorsed  the  plan ;  but  in  the  Virginia  Conference  un- 
der the  vigorous  leadership  of  Jesse  Lee  it  met  com- 
plete defeat.  In  this  he  wrought  a  great  and  monu- 
micntal  service. 

Asbury  was  now  completely  alone.  Whatcoat  had 
been  removed  by  the  hand  of  providence,  and  the  Con- 
ferences had  plainly  intimated  to  Dr.  Coke  that  they 
disapproved  of  his  removal  to  the  American  continent. 
The  electoral  Conference  scheme  had  also  been  disal- 
lowed. The  connection  had  declared  its  faith  in  As- 
bury and  in  providence.  The  confidence  of  the  Church 
was  that  Brother  Asbury  would  be  spared  until  the 
General  Conference  of  1808,  when  the  episcopacy 
could  be  legally  and  regularly  strengthened.  If  no 
bishop  should  be  living  when  the  Conference  met,  one 


202  Francis  Asbury. 

could  be  elected,  and  the  elders  could  consecrate  him 
just  as  Wesley  had  consecrated  Coke,  The  fear  of  "a 
break  in  the  succession"  disturbed  nobody.  Metho- 
dism had  ''followed  the  Scriptures  and  the  primitive 
Church"  in  1784,  and  could  do  so  with  equal  confi- 
dence in  1808.  There  was  no  leaning  upon  canons  or 
traditions. 

The  solitary  Bishop  was  equally  confident  and  se- 
rene, and  went  his  way  as  in  so  many  years  before. 
Every  Conference  on  the  calendar  was  met,  and  he  had 
strength  for  the  arduous  labors  demanded  at  each.  At 
the  Western  Conference,  though  the  reports  showed 
that  fourteen  hundred  members  had  been  added  during 
the  year,  such  was  the  imperfect  financial  plan  of  the 
work  that  many  of  the  preachers  lacked  for  even  ne- 
cessities. The  "father  confessor"  journal  of  the  Bish- 
op gives  us  this  secret  in  an  entry  made  while  on  the 
ground:  "The  brethren  were  in  want,  and  could  not 
provide  clothes  for  themselves;  so  I  parted  with  my 
watch,  my  coat,  and  my  shirt."  No  fiction  touch  of 
Victor  Hugo  in  describing  Monsignor  Bienvenue  sur- 
passes this  touch  of  reality  in  the  daily  life  of  the  first 
Bishop  of  American  Methodism.  In  1805  he  gave  to 
the  w^orld  the  grounds  of  his  episcopal  claims.  They 
were:  (i)  Divine  authority;  (2)  seniority  in  America; 
(3)  the  election  of  the  General  Conference;  (4)  ordi- 
nation by  Thomas  Coke;*  (5)  the  signs  of  an  apostle 

*The  episcopal  parchment  of  Bishop  Asbury  read  as  fol- 
lows— viz.  : 

"Knozu  all  men  by  these  presents,  That  I,  Thomas  Coke, 
Doctor  of  Civil  Law,  late  of  Jesus  College,  in  the  University 
of  Oxford,  Presbyter  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  Super- 
intendent  of   the    Methodist    Episcopal    Church    in   America, 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      203 

that  were  wrought  in  him.  These  signs  increased  with 
his  years. 

At  the  opening  of  1807  he  rejoiced  in  what  appeared 
to  be  perfectly  restored  healtli.  His  New  Year's  din- 
ner was  eaten  under  a  roof  of  fragrant  pine  trees  on 
the  route  northward  from  Sparta,  Ga.,  where  he  had 
held  the  "South"  Conference  some  days  before.  The 
wide  round  of  the  year  through  the  Carolinas,  Virgin- 
ia, the  Middle  States,  and  New  England  was  but  little 
varied  from  the  experience  of  former  years,  except 
for  a  journey  through  the  White  Mountains,  where  he 
encountered  snow  in  May,  and  an  extended  tour 
through  the  lake  region  of  Western  New  York,  where 
Methodism  was  taking  ready  root.  From  this  region 
he  descended  through  Western  Pennsylvania,  where 
he  visited  the  two  Moravian  settlements  of  Nazareth 

under  the  protection  of  Almighty  God  and  with  a  single  eye 
to  his  glory,  by  the  imposition  of  my  hands  and  prayer  (being 
assisted  by  two  ordained  elders)  did  on  the  twenty-fifth  day 
of  this  month,  December,  set  apart  Francis  Asbury  for  the 
ofiice  of  a  deacon  in  the  aforesaid  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 
And  also  the  twenty-sixth  day  of  the  said  month  did  by  the 
imposition  of  my  hands  and  prayer  (being  assisted  by  the  said 
elders)  set  apart  the  said  Francis  Asbury  for  the  office  of 
elder  in  the  said  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  And  on  this 
twenty-seventh  day  of  the  said  month,  being  the  day  of  the 
date  hereof,  have  by  the  imposition  of  my  hands  and  prayer 
(being  assisted  by  the  said  elders)  set  apart  the  said  Francis 
Asbur}'  for  the  office  of  a  superintendent  in  the  said  Meth- 
odist Episcopal  Church,  a  man  whom  I  judge  to  be  well 
qualified  for  that  great  work.  And  I  do  hereby  recommend 
him  to  all  whom  it  may  concern  as  a  fit  person  to  preside 
over  the  flock  of  Christ.  In  testimony  whereof  I  have  hereunto 
set  my  hand  and  seal  this  twenty-seventh  day  of  December, 
in  the  year  of  our  Lord  1784.  Thomas  Coke." 


204  Francis  Asbury. 

and  Bethlehem.  The  throngs  to  which  he  preached 
at  Conferences,  at  camp  meetings,  and  in  the  open 
fields  surpassed  in  numbers  and  interest  those  of  all 
past  years.  He  now  estimated  that  there  were  more 
than  a  hundred  and  forty  thousand  Methodists  in  the 
United  States,  and  that  the  Methodist  preachers  were 
preaching  to  two  millions  of  people.  The  entire  popu- 
lation of  the  republic  was  then  computed  to  be  about 
five  millions.  Thus  nearly  one-half  the  people  of  the 
entire  country  were  under  the  religious  influence  of 
Asbury  and  his  itinerants.  Such  were  the  miraculous 
results  of  thirty-five  years  of  labor. 

The  Western  journey  was  this  year  distinguished 
by  the  holding  of  a  Conference  at  Chillicothe,  Ohio,  the 
first  Methodist  Conference  ever  held  in  that  State,  and 
the  first  ever  held  north  or  west  of  the  Ohio  River. 
From  Chillicothe  the  Bishop  pushed  westward  for  a 
tour  through  the  Miami  country,  and  then  southward 
across  Kentucky  and  Tennessee  toward  his  eastward 
destination.  As  he  rode  or  halted  for  a  brief  rest  he 
was  engaged  in  compiling  an  addition  to  the  Hymn 
Book  prepared  for  the  American  Methodists  by  Wes- 
ley in  1784.  This  was  congenial  occupation,  and  at 
this  time  the  freshness  of  his  youth  seemed  to  have  re- 
turned. He  exulted  in  spirit  and  reflected  with  satis- 
faction upon  a  tour  that  should  next  year  add  to  his 
old  itinerary  the  province  of  Canada  and  the  territory 
of  Mississippi.  But  this  was  a  dream  never  to  be 
fully  realized. 

With  a  record  of  daily  official  cares,  passing  sor- 
rows, and  multiplying  joys  the  story  of  the  tireless 
Bishop  draws  itself  on  through  the  early  months  of 
1808,  and  the  General  Conference  was  again  in  ses- 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      205 

sion.  After  twenty-four  years  of  all  but  undivided 
responsibility  in  the  episcopacy  Asbury  was  to  have 
a  real  and  in  every  way  a  competent  associate  in  office. 

The  General  Conference  of  1808  met,  as  had  all  its 
predecessors,  in  Baltimore.  It  was  composed  of  one 
liundred  and  twenty-nine  members.  Its  leaders  were 
men  marked  for  destiny,  and  as  administrators  of  the 
commonwealth  they  had  shone  with  no  less  distinction 
than  as  the  lawgivers  of  Israel.  In  the  delegations 
were  five  men  who  afterwards  became  bishops  of  the 
Church — namely,  William  McKendree,  Enoch  George, 
Robert  R.  Roberts,  Joshua  Soule,  and  Elijah  Hedding. 

The  time  had  fully  come  to  settle  the  Methodism  of 
the  New  World  on  a  permanent  constitutional  basis, 
and  the  men  here  assembled  were  the  men  destined  to 
do  it.  The  Church  had  now,  in  fact,  but  one  Bishop, 
and  he  was  in  sympathy  with  and  wholly  committed  to 
the  new  ideals.  Methodism  was  the  most  American 
thing  in  all  America.  It  typed  the  restless  American 
soul.  Like  the  star  of  empire  its  course  was  westward, 
and  like  the  spirit  of  empire  its  purpose  was  conquest. 
Its  motto  was  not  only  to  keep  pace  with  civilization, 
but  to  mark  out  a  path  for  civilization — aye,  to  be  itself 
the  creator  and  conservator  of  civilization.  Its  ideals 
and  doctrines  were  a  unity.  It,  therefore,  only  an- 
swered the  law  of  its  nature  when  it  sought  to  pre- 
serve that  unity  and  to  prevent  its  ever-expanding 
forces  from  being  dissipated  through  lack  of  regula- 
tion. The  one  answer  to  its  one  loud-voiced  need  was 
an  enduring  centripetal  compact — a  constitution. 

The  organization  of  the  Church  was  completed  by 
the  writing  and  adoption  of  this  constitution.  The 
general   body   being    formally   convened   and   having 


2o6  Francis  Asbury. 

had  sundry  memorials  laid  before  it,  Bishop  As- 
bury  called  for  ''the  mind  of  the  Conference"  on  the 
all-important  matter.  It  was  promptly  decided  that 
there  should  be  a  delegated  General  Conference  and 
a  constitution  *'to  regulate  it."  Thereupon  a  commit- 
tee was  ordered,  and  by  the  wise  foresight  of  Asbury 
it  was  provided  to  be  appointed  equally  from  the  yearly 
Conferences — two  from  each — fourteen  in  all.  This 
committee  appointed  from  its  members  a  subcommit- 
tee of  three — namely,  Ezekiel  Cooper,  Joshua  Soule, 
and  Philip  Bruce — to  draft  a  report;  in  other  words, 
to  write  a  constitution,  though  not  even  these  men 
realized  the  full  historic  significance  of  what  they  did. 
The  subcommittee  met,  and  it  was  agreed  that  each 
member  should  write  a  separate  report.  Cooper  and 
Soule  made  each  a  draft ;  but  Bruce  made  no  Vv^riting. 
When  the  two  drafts  were  submitted,  Bruce  indorsed 
that  made  by  Soule,  and,  with  slight  alterations,  it  went 
from  the  large  committee  to  the  General  Conference. 
As  then  read  it  differed  but  slightly  from  the  instru- 
ment which  has  subsisted  for  more  than  one  hundred 
years  as  the  Constitution  of  Episcopal  Methodism  in 
its  various  families. 

The  advantage  which  the  strong  central  Conferences 
enjoyed  in  the  old  mass  meeting  assemblies  by  reason 
of  their  nearness  to  the  sittings  and  their  fuller  pas- 
toral ranks  was  a  thing  not  easily  to  be  given  up,  and 
at  first  there  was  a  determined  effort  to  modify  the 
provisions  of  the  proposed  constitution  on  this  point. 
The  sharp  difference  brought  on  by  this  issue  at  one 
time  threatened  a  rupture  in  the  body,  and  the  New 
England  delegation  asked  leave  to  retire.  A  number 
of  Western  delegates  also  prepared  to  leave  the  sit- 


Abetting  the  Makers  of  the  Constitution.      207 

ting.  A  spirit  of  concession,  however,  arrested  the  dis- 
organization, and  the  historic  document  was  finally  set- 
tled in  the  foundations  by  a  strong  majority  vote.  An 
effort  was  made  at  this  time  to  put  a  clause  into  the 
constitution  making  the  presiding  eldership  elective ; 
but  it  failed,  and,  although  many  efforts  have  been 
made  during  the  past  century  to  alter  the  rule  as  then 
established,  it  has  remained  unchanged. 

It  was  no  secret  that  Asbury  desired  the  election  of 
McKendree  to  the  episcopacy,  and  a  sermon  which  the 
rustic  presiding  elder  preached  before  the  Conference 
was  so  satisfactory  in  spirit  and  matter  that  the  dele- 
gates concentrated  upon  him  with  singular  unanimity. 
Bishop  Asbury  says  in  his  journal:  "The  General  Con- 
ference elected  dear  Brother  McKendree  to  be  assist- 
ant bishop."  But  the  old  Bishop  was  greatly  mistaken 
in  this.  William  McKendree  was  elected  an  associate 
bishop,  and  a  bishop  he  was,  every  inch  of  him,  and 
had  his  apostolate  vindicated  by  signs  innumerable. 


CHAPTER   XVI. 

In  Apostolic  Fellowship. 

"The  burden  Is  now  borne  by  two  pairs  of  shoul- 
ders instead  of  one;  the  care  is  cast  upon  two  hearts 
and  heads,"  rejoiced  Asbury  as  he  went  out  from  the 
General  Conference  of  1808.  The  countenance  of  his 
colleague  gave  him  joy  and  his  counsels  inspired  confi- 
dence. The  zeal  and  apostolicity  of  Asbury  were  truly 
matched  in  ]\lcKendree.  Moreover,  in  the  rugged  and 
rustic  Westerner  Asbury  was  constantly  discovering 
evidences  that  his  coming  to  power  had  been  an  overt 
providence.  In  consequence  of  this  discovery  he 
felt  the  first  easement  of  the  burden  of  responsibility 
which  had  rested  upon  him  since  the  days  that  Rankin 
and  Shadford  left  him  to  the  primacy  of  the  societies 
in  North  America.  The  judgment  of  Coke  he  had 
always,  with  good  reason,  distrusted ;  while  the  incum- 
bency of  Whatcoat  had  only  added  to  his  concern  and 
difficulties.  Now  he  saw  his  own  increasing  lack  of 
service  to  the  Churches  about  to  be  supplied  by  an 
associate  as  wise,  as  careful,  as  tireless  as  himself. 

Asbury's  feelings  at  this  time  are  well  typed  in  his 
journal.  Such  humanlike  matters  as  sitting  for  a  por- 
trait in  crayon  and  planning  for  a  month's  vacation  "in 
the  pleasant  fields"  give  variety  to  his  entries.  An  un- 
commonly sad  entry  is  also  to  be  noted  about  this  time. 
Harry  Dorsey  Gough,  his  long-loved  friend,  had  died 
near  the  opening  of  the  General  Conference,  and  his 
pall  had  been  followed  to  the  grave  by  the  members  of 
that  body.  On  the  fifth  of  June  to  a  great  throng 
(208) 


In  Apostolic  Fellozvship.  209 

standing  in  the  open  Asbury  preached  a  sermon  in 
memory  of  the  dead.  **The  discourse  was  very  much 
a  portraiture  of  Mr.  Cough's  reHgious  experience  and 
character,"  which  illustrated  both  the  inconstancy  of 
human  flesh  and  the  miracle-working  power  of  divine 
grace.  Gough  had  known  the  ecstasy  of  faith  and  the 
bitterness  of  apostasy ;  but  his  days  had  closed  in  clear 
and  perfect  light.  Asbury  thus  saw  the  friends  and 
events  of  his  earlier  ministry  passing  into  memory  and 
history. 

The  first  official  sitting  for  the  new  episcopal  year 
was  that  of  the  Western  Conference,  calendared  to  be- 
gin October  i,  at  Liberty  Hill,  twelve  miles  from  Nash- 
ville, in  the  State  of  Tennessee.  McKendree  had  al- 
ready turned  his  face  westward,  and,  passing  through 
the  territory  of  his  former  district,  crossed  the  Missis- 
sippi River  and  entered  the  Missouri  Valley  settle- 
ments in  the  lands  recently  acquired  from  the  French. 
He  was  thus  the  first  Methodist  Bishop,  or  as  for  that 
the  first  Protestant  Bishop,  to  cross  the  great  midland 
waters  and  establish  a  diocese  in  "the  ultimate  West." 
Fire  fell  from  his  lips  as  he  went,  and  on  his  return 
he  left  a  revival  burning  through  the  settlements  for 
a  hundred  miles  up  the  romantic  valley. 

About  July  I  Asbury  began  a  slow  journey  west- 
ward, with  the  Conference  session  to  be  held  in  the 
Cumberland  Basin  as  his  objective  point.  For  a  travel- 
ing companion  he  had  engaged  Henry  Boehm,  a  strong- 
bodied,  consecrated  itinerant,  of  whose  father,  a  Ger- 
man minister  in  fellowship  with  Otterbein,  we  have 
already  heard.  Asbury's  object  in  selecting  Henry 
Boehm  was  not  only  to  have  a  companion  in  travel, 
but  also  through  him  to  reach  the  people  of  the  numer- 
14 


2IO  Francis  Asbury. 

ous  German  settlements  in  the  Ohio  Valley.  In  this 
office  Boehm  developed  great  efficiency,  and  for  several 
years  traveled  with  the  Bishop  in  his  wide  circuits. 
His  notes  of  their  many  itineraries  are  full  and  spirited, 
and  are  valuable  side  lights  of  the  Asburian  story. 

The  course  mapped  out  by  Asbury  for  his  journey 
lay  through  the  States  of  Maryland,  Ohio,  parts  of  the 
territory  of  Indiana,  and  thence  through  Kentucky  and 
Tennessee  to  the  southernmost  dip  of  the  Cumberland 
Basin.  More  than  once  the  ailing  and  feeble  Bishop 
sank  under  the  exhaustion  caused  by  the  hardships  of 
travel,  but  rose  again,  sometimes  on  crutches,  some- 
times half  borne  in  the  arms  of  his  companion,  to  enter 
a  church  or  mount  his  horse  for  another  stage.  Nor 
was  the  journey  a  profitless  one  by  the  way.  In  chap- 
els, in  cabins,  and  at  camp  meetings  in  the  wilds  scores, 
perhaps  hundreds,  of  people  professed  converting 
grace.  "1  rejoice  to  think  there  will  be  four  or  five 
hundred  camp  meetings  this  year.  May  this  outdo  all 
former  years  in  the  conversion  of  precious  souls  to 
God !"  mused  the  faithful  man  as  he  rode  through  the 
straining  new  lands  dotted  only  here  and  there  with 
settlements. 

The  old-time  camp  meeting  has  never  been  fully  ap- 
praised as  a  primordial  force.  It  not  only  gave  fer- 
vency and  carrying  power  to  early  religious  experience 
exposed  to  the  unfriendliness  of  pioneer  crudeness  and 
ignorance,  but  it  served  to  create  and  cement  social 
affinities  that  resulted  in  an  instant  use  of  sympathy 
and  cooperation,  and  which  also  typed  and  determined 
the  spirit  of  the  settled  community  in  an  after  time. 
To  trace  the  silent  influences  of  the  Asburian  apos- 
tolate  on  our  national  life  one  must  fully  study  both 


In  Apostolic  Fellowship.  211 

his  personal  and  his  official  relations  to  the  men  and 
women  who  lit  these  watch  fires  of  faith  and  fellow- 
ship across  the  continent. 

Indian  summer,  with  its  haze  and  calm,  was  clothing 
the  hills  of  Tennessee  when  Asbury  and  his  companion 
entered  the  Cumberland  Basin,  where  Bishop  McKen- 
dree  met  them  and  conducted  them  to  the  seat  of  the 
Western  Conference.     The  scene  of  the  sitting  was  a 
camp  meeting  to  which  the  itinerants  had  gathered 
''from  Holston,  Natchez,  Opelousas,  Missouri,  Illinois, 
Ohio,  Kentucky,  and  Tennessee."    In  the  neighborhood 
of  the  camp  ground  was  the  new  home  of  the  Rev. 
Green  Hill,  whose  name  is  indissolubly  linked  with  the 
early  history  of  Methodism  in  North  Carolina,  and  in 
this  home  the  business  sessions  were  held.    It  was  the 
first  Conference  which  IMcKendree  attended  as  a  bish- 
op.   It  is  to  be  inferred  from  the  tone  of  Bishop  As- 
bury's  journal  that  McKendree  took  only  a  minor  part 
in  the  administration  of  the  session.    He  was  naturally 
in  the  role  of  training  and  introduction  for  a  time ;  but 
he  early  laid  hold  of  the  helm  of  affairs  with  a  strong 
hand  and  a  confident  spirit.    He  saw  the  necessity  for 
and  early  adopted  an  orderly  plan  for  "bringing  for- 
ward the  business  of  the  Conference."     Much  to  the 
disturbance  of  Asbury,  he  began  to  call  the  presiding 
elders  together  to  consult  in  making  the  appomtments, 
and  thus  it  is  to  him  that  Methodism  owes  the  "cabi- 
net," and  the  placing  of  the  presiding  eldership  in  pos- 
session of  its  logical  and  historic  function  as  an  inte- 
grant of  the  episcopacy.     It  is  indicative  of  Asbury's 
confidence  in  McKendree's  wisdom  and  foresight  that 
he  at  last  cheerfully  acquiesced  in  every  advance  which 
his  colleague  proposed. 


212  Francis  Asbury. 

The  synod  in  the  wilderness  having  concluded  its 
business,  the  two  Bishops,  with  Asbury's  companion, 
Boehm,  started  across  the  mountains  eastward  for  the 
round  of  the  Atlantic  Conferences,  whose  sittings  were 
to  run  into  the  middle  of  the  year  1809.  The  next 
in  order  after  the  Western  was  the  South  Carolina,  or, 
as  Asbury  laconically  puts  it,  the  "South"  Conference ; 
and  this  was  their  present  objective,  though  a  great 
preaching  and  visiting  detour  was  made  through  parts 
of  North  Carolina,  with  the  inevitable  circle  through 
Charleston,  which  was  a  stage  or  two  from  the  seat  of 
the  Conference  at  Alilledgeville,  Ga.  The  Senior  Bish- 
op's notion  was  that  the  people  should  see  and  know 
their  General  Superintendents.  His  labor  was  to  show 
himself  the  servant  of  all ;  and  in  this  purpose  and  its 
execution  he  found  his  associate  no  whit  behind  him- 
self. Together  in  "a.  thirty-dollar  chaise"  they  rode 
their  wide  circuit,  did  these  two  primitive,  heroic,  apos- 
tolic Bishops.  On  their  journey  "great  news"  came  to 
them  concerning  revivals  in  every  quarter.  Baltimore 
and  Bohemia  Manor,  the  early  loves  of  Asbury,  had 
been  blessed  with  extraordinary  visitations.  "Camp 
meet'ings  have  done  this!"  exclaimed  Asbury,  adding 
a  new  strophe  to  his  song  of  tabernacles. 

Of  course  the  Asburian  rote  of  readinfj,  writincr, 
prayers,  and  meditations  went  on  daily.  It  would  seem 
that  as  the  travels  of  the  sexagenarian  Bishop  in- 
creased his  capacity  for  reading  also  increased,  for  his 
journal  tells  constantly  of  incursions  into  new  volumes, 
though  they  were  generally  of  the  same  class  as  those 
read  in  earlier  years,  and  so  could  not  have  suggested 
any  strikingly  new  ideals  or  brought  to  him  radically 
fresh  interpretations  of  life,  manners,  or  theology. 


In  Apostolic  Fellowship.  21;^ 

The  Conference  session  in  Georgia  is  now  chiefly 
memorable  as  the  one  at  which  WiUiam  Capers  was 
received  on  trial  into  the  traveling  connection.  As 
preacher,  editor,  educator,  missionary  secretary,  and 
bishop,  the  name  of  William  Capers  remains  one  of 
the  chief  glories  of  our  history.  As  "the  founder  of 
the  missions  to  the  slaves"  he  w^ll  be  remembered, 
perhaps,  when  every  other  claim  to  renown  has  been 
disallowed.  He  early  grew  into  the  affection  and  con- 
fidence of  Asbury,  and  the  pictures  which  he  sketched 
of  the  tenderness,  simplicity,  and  human  kindness  of 
the  venerable  Superintendent  are  pleasing  in  the  ex- 
treme. 

The  Conference  in  Georgia  had  been  held  during  the 
Christmas-New  Year  week.  Through  the  snows  and 
biting  winds  of  January  the  two  Bishops  and  their 
companion  proceeded  to  Tarboro,  N.  C,  where  the 
Virginia  Conference  was  to  begin  its  sitting  on  Febru- 
ary I.  McKendree  was  here  amongst  his  kith  and 
kin,  and  took  a  large  share  in  the  administrations.  This 
was  even  now  a  Conference  great  in  its  personnel.  At 
least  sixty  of  the  itinerants  were  reckoned  by  Asbury 
to  be  "the  most  pleasing  and  promising  young  men." 
But,  with  three  exceptions,  they  were  unmarried. 
Why?  Because  the  high  taste  of  the  Southerners 
would  not  permit  their  daughters  to  wed  with  men 
so  poor  in  worldly  goods.  "All  the  better,"  declared 
Asbury,  for  a  celibate  clergy  was  his  preference,  if 
not  his  ideal. 

The  question  of  African  slavery,  always  uppermost 
with  Asbury,  was  again  on  the  Conferences,  but  as 
far  out  of  the  way  of  settlement  as  before.  In  his 
journal  he  asks  a  question  which  may  well  be  taken 


214  Francis  Asbiiry. 

as  expressing  the  crux  of  the  discussion  in  those  ear- 
Her  years.  "Would  not  an  amelioration  in  the  condi- 
tion and  treatment  of  the  slaves  have  produced  more 
practical  good  to  the  poor  African  than  any  attempt 
at  their  emancipation?"  Happily,  the  question  has 
now  only  a  reminiscential  interest.  The  recital,  how- 
ever, serves  to  show  the  sanity  and  moderation  of  the 
first  Bishop  of  American  Methodism. 

The  sessions  of  the  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  and 
New  York  Conferences,  which  followed  in  succession 
after  the  "rising"  of  the  Virginians,  were  without  note- 
worthy incident.  In  both  New  York  and  Philadelphia, 
however,  Asbury  had  such  tangles  and  annoyances  of 
administration  to  deal  with  as  caused  him  to  sensibly 
recall  the  days  of  his  early  pastorates  in  those  cities. 
The  three  Conference  sessions  and  the  necessary  in- 
tervals between  them  carried  the  episcopal  calendar 
forward  to  a  date  near  the  end  of  May.  In  the  mean- 
time not  a  few  refreshing  experiences  came  to  Asbury 
and  his  two  traveling  companions,  McKendree  and 
Boehm,  to  whom  he  affectionately  refers  as  "the  young- 
men."  Calls  were  made  during  the  northward  journey 
at  Baltimore  and  Barrett's  Chapel,  both  luminous  spots 
in  the  memory  of  the  Senior  Superintendent.  At 
"Perry  Hall"  he  tarried  long  enough  to  view  the  graves 
of  his  departed  friends,  the  Coughs.  "The  image  of 
my  dear  departed  Harry  Cough  was  very  present  to 
me,"  is  a  touch  in  his  journal  at  this  place  wondrously 
and  humanly  illuminating.  Great  friendships  are  pos- 
sible only  to  great  souls.  Hearing  at  this  juncture 
that  the  son  of  a  former  familiar  in  the  township  of 
the  Coughs  had  enlisted  and  gone  to  serve  with  the 
military  in  New  Orleans,  he  resolved  instantly  to  send 


In  Apostolic  Fellowship.  215 

a  missionary  to  that  far-away  city,  and  wrote  to  the 
presiding  elder  of  the  Mississippi  District  to  dispatch 
a  man  to  the  new  field.  Gregory  did  not  more  truly 
covet  the  Engles  than  did  this  man  the  new-made 
Americans  in  the  South,  nor  did  the  Pontiff  act  so 
promptly  as  did  the  miterless  head  of  the  youngest 
Protestant  sect. 

At  Barrett's  Chapel  Asbury  had  an  incentive  to  re- 
view the  four  and  twenty  years  that  followed  his  meet- 
ing with  Coke  and  the  adoption  of  their  wise  and 
Heaven-guided  plans  for  reahzing  the  ideals  of  "the 
Scriptures  and  the  primitive  Church."  Amid  the 
shades  of  this  quietude  he  was  visited  by  his  ''dear 
friends,  Governor  Basset  and  his  lady,"  who  drove 
nearly  forty  miles  to  meet  him.  A  simple  tribute  paid 
to  simple  worth.  This  man  made  his  friends  a  part 
of  himself. 

Of  another  sort  is  the  journal  note  concerning  the 
"steamboat" — "a  great  invention."  This  the  two  Bish- 
ops and  their  rustic  Mark  saw  in  the  Hudson  soon 
after  Fulton  had  made  it  a  potent  and  prophetic  fact. 
"My  attention  was  strongly  excited,"  writes  Asbury. 
No  man  was  better  fitted  than  he  to  measure  in  a  mo- 
ment of  anticipation  the  meaning  to  the  New  World 
of  this  tide-climbing  invention.  He  knew  the  vast 
distances  that  separated  the  nation's  centers  of  life 
and  wealth.  He  knew  also  the  courses  and  had  meas- 
ured with  his  eye  the  capable  bosoms  of  America's 
great  rivers.  In  vision  he  saw  the  wonders  of  a  time 
made  possible  by  the  magic  of  steam. 

The  New  England  Conference,  held  at  Monmouth, 
District  of  Maine,  completed  the  episcopal  round  for 
the  year.    Methodism  had  struck  its  roots  deeply  and 


2i6  Francis  Asbury. 

firmly  in  the  soil  of  the  land  of  "the  Presbyterians;" 
but  Asbury  saw  much  that  displeased  and  troubled 
him — much  in  the  land,  much  in  the  conduct  of  Aleth- 
odist  affairs.  Most  of  all,  he  deplored  his  own  lack 
of  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  field  and  the  men. 
The  standard  of  responsibility  which  he  set  for  him- 
self in  the  oversight  of  the  general  work  was  not  lower 
than  that  which  he  set  for  his  preachers  in  the  care  of 
their  circuits. 

By  the  customary  circuitous  route  through  the  lake 
region  of  New  York  and  southward  through  Pennsyl- 
vania the  two  Bishops  and  their  companion  were  at 
last  at  the  end  of  the  year's  long  journey.  But  it  was 
only  to  begin  again  the  ceaseless  round  of  the  conti- 
nent. Within  a  fortnight  they  were  in  Ohio,  on  the 
way  to  Cincinnati,  where  the  Western  Conference  was 
to  meet  at  the  end  of  September.  It  is  indicative  of 
the  courtesy  and  refinement  of  Asbury 's  nature  that 
the  hardships  which  he  so  often  endured  and  the  un- 
couth manners  which  he  so  often  met  did  not  sap  the 
strength  nor  dim  the  perfection  of  his  ideals.  Sleep- 
ing often  on  the  bare  floors  of  cabins,  constantly  cov- 
ered with  dust  or  bespattered  with  m.ud  in  the  way, 
dining  on  coarse  and  ill-prepared  food,  and  not  seldom 
amid  squalid  and  unsanitary  surroundings,  neither  the 
dignity  of  manliness  nor  the  gentleness  of  sainthood 
ever  forsook  him.  In  spirit  he  quickly  recognized  a 
discourtesy,  and  in  his  soul  reprobated  a  boorish  man, 
though  it  is  doubtful  if  he  habitually  expressed  him- 
self on  such  shortcomings  except  to  his  journal.  To 
the  keeping  of  that  confidant  he  committed  the  record 
of  many  brutish  manners  and  even  personal  slights. 
In  one  of  these  records  is  recited  the  fact  that  while 


In  Apostolic  Fellowship,  21/^ 

he  was  preaching  in  a  certain  place  a  presiding  elder 
put  his  feet  upon  the  chancel.  This  breach  of  deco- 
rum greatly  annoyed  the  one-time  saddler's  appren- 
tice, whose  religion  had  helped  to  make  him  a  prince 
of  good  manners. 

Particularly  delicate  were  his  courtesies  to  Bishop 
McKendree,  although  he  had  written  of  him  at  first 
as  an  "assistant ;"  and  although  the  strength  and  fore- 
sight of  McKendree  often  vetoed  the  judgment  of  his 
senior,  there  seems,  in  fact,  never  to  have  been  a  se- 
rious jar  in  their  relations.  When  they  were  sepa- 
rated, as  happened  in  the  early  part  of  the  second 
year's  journey,  Asbury  habitually  wrote  to  his  asso- 
ciate in  a  tone  of  affectionate  tenderness,  as  also  of 
apostolic  counsel. 

The  session  of  the  Western  Conference  for  1809 
must  have  been  something  in  the  nature  of  a  Pente- 
cost. The  fires  of  revival  were  burning  in  every 
direction ;  and  when  the  two  Bishops  met  at  Cincin- 
nati to  station  the  preachers,  they  found  three  thou- 
sand worshipers  ready  to  join  in  the  devotions.  The 
reports  for  the  year  showed  that  the  increase  in  this 
field  was  two  thousand  six  hundred  and  sixty-six  mem- 
bers over  all  losses. 

Turning  from  the  wilderness  echoing  with  the  shouts 
of  victorious  Israel  and  glowing  with  camp  fires,  the 
episcopal  party  found  itself  at  the  end  of  a  month  on 
the  North  Carolina  seaboard.  It  was  the  eighth  time 
within  nine  years  that  Asbury  had  scaled  "the  Amer- 
ican Alps,"  as  he  constantly  named  the  Appalachian 
chains.  In  his  day  he  decreed  that  there  should  be 
no  Alps. 

As  was  now  a  custom  with  him,  Asbury  took  a  little 


2i8  Francis  Asbury. 

needed  rest  near  the  year's  end,  in  the  genial  and 
healthful  atmosphere  of  Charleston.  Here  at  Christ- 
mastide  the  Conference  sat.  That  body  arising  just 
before  New  Year's,  he  immediately  set  out  with  his 
associate  on  a  tour  that  ended  on  February  8  at  Peters- 
burg, the  seat  of  the  Virginia  Conference.  The  land 
was  now  filled  with  memories  for  the  aged  itinerant. 
Nearly  forty  years  had  elapsed  since  he  began  to  ride 
the  reaches  over  which  this  journey  carried  him.  ''Here 
were  great  times  thirty  years  ago!"  he  wrote.  Saith 
not  the  Word,  "Your  old  men  shall  dream  dreams?" 
But  this  man  was  a  seer  also. 

A  few  weeks  after  this  his  course  brought  him  to 
Deer  Creek,  in  the  State  of  Maryland.  H  the  scenes 
in  Virginia  had  stirred  his  memories,  how  must  these 
earlier  surroundings  have  been  peopled  with  spiritual 
presences  ?  To  add  to  the  memory  fructifying  scenes, 
he  here  met  Father  Boehm  and  Henry  Watters.  The 
places  of  earth — high  places  and  low — get  their  mean- 
ing from  the  footprints  of  life.  This  v/as  Asbury's 
last  visit  to  this  region,  as  also  his  last  sight  of  these 
venerable  men. 

At  the  Virginia  Conference  Asbury  was  called  upon 
to  decide  whether  or  not  the  Bishops  had  the  "right 
to  form  the  eighth  or  Genesee  Conference."  His  de- 
cision was  affirmative,  and  the  new  Conference  to  be 
"composed  of  the  Susquehannah,  Cayuga,  Upper  and 
Lower  Canada  Districts,"  was  scheduled  to  meet  at 
Lyons,  State  of  New  York,  July  20,  1810.  Having 
officially  visited  the  Baltimore,  Philadelphia,  New 
York,  and  New  England  Conferences,  the  Bishops 
came  in  due  course  and  time  to  the  sitting  of  the  new 
Conference.     After  seeinc:  the  business  of  the  bodv 


bi  Apostolic  Fellowship.  219 

conducted  to  its  conclusion,  Asbury  expressed  the  opin- 
ion that  its  creation  had  been  the  most  judicious  act 
of  the  joint  episcopacy.  But  the  Annual  Conferences 
were  not  unanimously  of  this  view.  There  was  much 
criticism  of  both  Asbury  and  McKendree  in  the  differ- 
ent sittings,  and  they  were  charged  with  exceeding 
their  prerogative ;  but  the  Bishops  relied  upon  an  un- 
rescinded  order  of  the  General  Conference  of  1796. 
The  matter  finally  went  to  the  General  Conference  of 
1812,  which  declared  that  "the  Genesee  Conference 
is  a  legally  constituted  and  organized  Conference." 
Whatever  the  construed  rights  of  the  episcopacy  in 
that  early  day  to  change  Conference  boundaries  and 
establish  new  jurisdictions,  they  passed  to  the  larger 
prerogative  of  the  General  Conference,  which  must 
take  the  initiative  and  give  authority  for  such  admin- 
istrative acts. 

The  long  and  tedious  path  across  the  Alleghany 
Mountains  and  down  the  far-stretching  Ohio  Valley 
to  the  center  of  the  Western  Conference  is  now  a  fa- 
miliar one.  Over  this  path  Bishop  Asbury  made  his 
way  in  a  sulky  during  September  and  October  of  1810. 
In  company  with  Bishop  McKendree,  Learner  Black- 
man,  James  Gwin,  and  Peter  Cartwright,  he  came  on 
November  i  to  a  chapel  in  Shelby  County,  Kentucky, 
where  the  Conference  was  held.  The  sitting  over,  the 
feeble  Bishop  rejoiced  in  a  reported  increase  of  four 
thousand  members  for  the  year,  sold  his  sulky,  and 
prepared  for  a  winter  horseback  ride  across  the  moun- 
tains into  the  Carolinas.  Unable  now  to  preach  with 
the  frequency  and  force  of  former  years,  he  adopted 
a  new  method  of  evangelizing  by  the  way.  To  travel- 
ers and  at  the   doors   of  cabins   and   farmhouses  he 


220  Francis  Asbury. 

distributed  small  religious  tracts  in  German  or  Eng- 
lish, as  his  discerning  ear  or  eye  dictated.  It  was  thus 
that  he  became  the  pioneer  in  the  circulation  of  reli- 
gious tracts  and  books,  a  rule  that  became  an  effective 
instrumentality  in  the  hands  of  a  generation  or  two  of 
Methodist  preachers  coming  later. 

It  was  during  this  year  that  Asbury  read  the  history 
of  American  Methodism  brought  out  by  Jesse  Lee. 
The  differences  between  Asbury  and  Lee  were  an  open 
secret,  and  the  Bishop,  judging  from  an  entry  in  his 
journal,  was  both  gratified  and  surprised  to  find  that 
the  historian  had  dealt  more  considerately  with  him 
than  he  expected.  He  felt  moved  to  correct  but  a 
single  statement  of  the  volume,  and  one  which  involved 
a  matter  of  small  moment. 

At  the  opening  of  the  new  year  cheery  news  came 
from  the  North  to  the  two  Bishops  in  Charleston.  The 
troubles  in  the  Genesee  Conference  which  appear  to 
have  taken  on  a  connectlonal  aspect  Vvcre  reported 
composed,  and  the  General  Superintendents  breathed 
more  freely. 

Two  noteworthy  records  were  made  by  Asbury  in 
connection  with  the  Conference  round  of  this  year. 
The  South  Carolina  Conference  convened  at  Colum- 
bia, and  was  held  in  the  parlors  of  the  spacious  home 
of  United  States  Senator  Taylor,  who,  with  his  fam- 
ily, was  in  warm  sympathy  with  the  Methodists.  The 
members  of  the  Conference  were  entertained  in  the 
many  chambers  of  the  hospitable  establishment.  The 
Virginia  Conferences  being  appointed  to  meet  in  Ra- 
leigh, N.  C,  the  State  officers  hospitably  put  the  Sen- 
ate Chamber  and  Hall  of  Representatives  at  the  dis- 
posal of  the  body.     The  business  sessions  v/cre  held 


In  Apostolic  Fellowship.  221 

in  the  Chamber,  while  the  Hall  was  devoted  to  preach- 
ing services  three  times  each  day.  Many  converts  were 
claimed,  amongst  them  Secretary  of  State  Hill  and 
several  members  of  his  family.  The  Church  was  thus 
greatly  strengthened  in  that  center. 

In  his  progress  northward  the  Bishop  and  his  com- 
pany were  entertained  at  Germantown,  Pa.,  by  Dr. 
Rush,  a  signer  of  the  Declaration  of  Independence  and 
a  man  of  renown  in  his  day.  At  the  end  of  the  visit 
Asbury,  who  had  been  professionally  advised  by  the 
Doctor  and  his  associate,  asked  what  he  should  pay. 
"Nothing,  only  an  interest  in  your  prayers,"  was  the 
reply,  both  physicians  being  devout  Christians.  "As 
I  do  not  like  to  be  in  debt,"  replied  Asbury,  "vvx  will 
pray  now,"  and  with  that  he  called  the  company  to 
prayer  on  the  spot. 

At  the  height  of  summer,  and  between  the  sittings 
of  the  New  England  and  the  Genesee  Conferences, 
Asbury  crossed  the  St.  Lawrence  and  made  a  tour  of 
a  fortnight's  length  through  Southern  Canada.  He 
saw  comparatively  little  of  the  country,  but  got  a  fair 
idea  of  conditions  there.  He  saw  difficulties,  but  was 
cheered  with  prospects.  His  patriotic  American  feel- 
ings were  deeply  stirred  while  crossing  the  line.  Re- 
turning from  the  hardship  of  the  adventure,  he  fell, 
sick  and  fainting,  in  the  arms  of  Bishop  McKendree, 
for  whom  his  affection  increased  each  day. 

The  Annual  Conference  sessions  of  the  summer,  au- 
tumn, winter,  and  early  spring  returned  delegates  to 
the  General  Conference  to  be  held  in  New  York  May 
I,  1812.  This  was  to  be  the  first  delegated  ses- 
sion of  that  body,  and  much  interest  centered  around 
the  elections.    The  absorbing  issue  then  before  the  con- 


222  Francis  Asbury. 

nection  was  the  status  of  the  presiding  eldership. 
Should  it  remain  an  office  to  be  filled  by  the  appoint- 
ment of  the  bishopSj  or  should  the  Annual  Confer- 
ences elect  the  incumbents  by  ballot?  Asbury  was 
deeply  concerned  that  the  old  rule  should  not  be  sub- 
stituted, and  it  is  certain  that  McKendree  shared  his 
sentiments.  The  issue  influenced  the  elections  to  no 
small  extent ;  but  we  shall  see  how  a  conclusion  favora- 
ble to  the  old  order  was  reached  in  the  general  Metho- 
dist mind  even  before  the  death  of  Asbury. 


CHAPTER    XVII. 

The  Sunset  Vision. 

The  General  Conference  of  1812 — ^the  first  dele- 
gated convention  of  the  Church — was  looked  forward 
to  with  concern  by  Asbury  and  the  other  Methodist 
leaders.  It  was  expected  that  its  actions  would  severe- 
ly test  the  strength  and  utility  of  the  constitution ;  but 
the  session  passed  without  stress  or  crucial  issue.  The 
new  order  followed  the  old^  as  one  stage  of  life  suc- 
ceeds another.  Methodism,  which  originated  in  a 
series  of  unmistakable  providences,  was  not  left  to 
chance,  nor  to  the  unaided  counsels  of  men  in  settling 
the  enduring  principles  of  its  polity.  The  constitution, 
which  developed  out  of  experience  and  necessity,  an- 
swered naturally  to  Methodist  history  and  expansion. 

This  General  Conference — the  last  which  Asbury  at- 
tended— was  opened  by  him  in  the  usual  simple  way 
— that  is,  Vv^ith  Scripture-reading,  song,  and  prayer. 
Ninety  delegates  were  seated  in  the  audience  room  of 
the  historic  John  Street  Church,  New  York  City. 
Rules  of  order,  described  as  being  a  reduction  of  the 
Jeffersonian  manual,  were  brought  in,  but  were  soon 
found  to  be  cumbersome  and  impracticable,  and  so 
were  promptly  abandoned  for  a  simpler  and  more 
common-sense  code. 

Bishop  McKendree  introduced  very  early  in  the  ses- 
sion a  departure  which  became  a  precedent  in  all  sub- 
sequent General  Conferences,  and  which  has  greatly 
helped  to  illuminate  the  paths  of  Methodist  legislation. 
He  submitted  to  the  Conference  a  written  address,  set- 


224  Francis  Asbury. 

ting  forth  his  views  on  the  state  and  needs  of  the 
connection.  To  this  act  of  his  colleague  Asbury  of- 
fered the  objection  that  it  was  an  innovation  and  need- 
less; but  after  McKendree  had  briefly  expounded  his 
reasons  for  the  step,  the  venerable  man  acquiesced  with 
a  smile.  Later,  on  his  own  behalf,  he  addressed  the 
Conference,  through  his  colleague,  in  much  the  same 
spirit  and  also  to  much  the  same  end.  It  was  charac- 
teristic of  Asbury  that,  self-sufficient  though  he  was  in 
his  mastery  of  men  and  affairs,  when  shown  the  ad- 
vantage of  a  new  method  or  departure,  he  was  quick 
to  fall  in  with  it,  and  nursed  no  sentiment  of  pride 
which  prevented  him  from  profiting  by  it  to  the  fullest. 
An  example  of  this  was  the  spirit  in  which  he  finally 
abandoned  the  plan  of  a  council  for  that  of  a  delegated 
General  Conference. 

For  a  body  so  historically  important  the  session  of 
the  General  Conference  of  1812  accomplished  but  lit- 
tle that  was  of  lasting  significance.  There  was,  in 
fact,  but  little  demand  for  new  legislation.  The  vali- 
dation of  the  joint  action  of  the  Bishops  in  creating 
the  Genesee  Conference,  the  division  of  the  Western 
Conference  into  the  Ohio  and  the  Tennessee  Confer- 
ences, the  m.aking  of  local  deacons  eligible  to  elders' 
orders,  and  a  fresh  refusal  to  take  the  appointment  of 
the  presiding  elders  out  of  the  hands  of  the  bishops 
and  leave  their  selection  to  a  majority  vote  of  the 
Annual  Conference  practically  outlines  the  work  of  the 
entire  sitting. 

Bishop  Asbury  had  for  some  time  had  in  contempla- 
tion a  visit  to  his  early  hom^e  and  friends  in  England, 
and  had  planned  to  begin  his  journey  thither  soon 
after  the   adjournment   of  the   General   Conference. 


The  Sunset  Vision.  225 

This  had  led  Bishop  McKendree  to  suggest  in  his 
address  to  the  Conference  the  propriety  of  strength- 
ening the  episcopacy  by  the  election  of  an  additional 
bishop.  Both  the  address  of  Bishop  McKendree  and 
the  verbal  communication  of  Bishop  Asbury  were  re- 
ferred to  a  committee  styled  "the  Committee  on  Epis- 
copacy," consisting  of  one  member  from  each  Annual 
Conference,  an  order  which  has  ever  since  obtained. 
This  committee  reported  unfavorably  on  the  request 
of  Bishop  Asbury  to  be  permitted  to  visit  Europe, 
although  it  appeared  that  an  invitation  to  do  so  had 
been  extended  him  by  the  British  Wesleyan  Confer- 
ence. Several  reasons  seem  to  have  influenced  the 
committee  in  denying  this  request.  First,  the  confi- 
dence of  the  American  preachers  in  Asbury's  leader- 
ship was  only  equaled  by  their  love  for  him.  They 
also  feared  a  repetition  of  the  embarrassments  which 
had  come  upon  the  connection  through  the  continued 
absences  of  Bishop  Coke.  Should  Asbury  be  given 
a  leave  of  absence  from  the  continent,  it  would  mean, 
as  they  viewed  it,  a  suspension  for  the  time  of  his 
episcopal  functions.  That  had  been  the  rule  applied 
to  Coke,  and  they  could  not  contemplate  their  patriarch 
in  a  similar  situation  with  other  feelings  than  those  of 
personal  distress.  Just  then,  too^  the  shadows  of  the 
second  war  with  Great  Britain  were  deepening  on  the 
land,  and  hostilities  actually  began  within  the  next  few 
weeks.  The  whole  truth  is,  the  American  preachers, 
one  and  all,  felt  that  the  cause  they  represented  was 
safer  when  Asbury  was  near  at  hand  and  in  their 
councils.    He  could  not  be  spared. 

The  decision  not  to  consent  to  Asbury 's  proposed 
European  visit  put  an  end  to  the  scheme  for  electing 
15 


226  Francis  Asbury. 

a  third  bishop.  Asbury  renewed  his  pledge  to  serve 
the  connection  with  all  his  powers  of  body  and  mind 
as  long  and  as  largely  as  he  could,  and  the  incident 
was  closed. 

The  order  of  journey  made  by  the  two  Bishops  im- 
mediately following  the  General  Conference  was  much 
the  same  as  in  former  years.  It  was  up  througli 
the  Middle  States^  across  New  England,  southward 
through  Western  New  York  and  Pennsylvania,  into 
the  great  valleys  of  the  West,  and  back  to  the  Atlantic 
seaboard,  in  the  Carolinas.  The  initial  sessions  of  the 
new  Conferences — Ohio  and  Tennessee — were  note- 
worthy incidents  of  the  year.  The  former  met  in 
Chillicothe,  which  brought  Asbury  back  to  a  circle  of 
old  friends  and  to  the  springs  of  tender  memories. 
On  the  journey  southward  he  preached  in  the  new 
Statehouse  at  Frankfort  and  visited  Louisville.  Com- 
ing to  Nashville,  he  found  a  neat  new  brick  meeting- 
house "thirty-four  feet  square,  with  galleries."  This 
was  one  of  the  half  dozen  predecessors  of  the  present 
McKendree  Church,  the  ''Jerusalem"  house  of  South- 
ern Methodism.  From  Nashville  together  the  two 
Bishops  journeyed  to  Fountain  Head,  in  Sumner 
County,  Tenn.,  where,  in  connection  with  a  camp  meet- 
ing, the  Tennessee  Conference  was  to  be  held.  It  was 
on  or  near  these  grounds  that,  twenty-three  years  later, 
the  dust  of  McKendree  was  to  find  sepulture ;  and 
though,  after  forty  years,  that  dust  was  to  be  given  a 
new  resting  place  on  the  campus  of  Vanderbilt  Univer- 
sity, the  original  marble  slab  still  marks,  as  a  ceno- 
taph, the  place  where  he  slept. 

The  Conference  which  met  at  Charleston,  S.  C,  in 
Pecember  of  this  year,  and  which  Asbury  attended 


The  S litis et  Vision,  227 

with  something  of  his  old-time  relish  and  exhilaration, 
is  to  be  remembered  as  the  session  at  which  James  O. 
Andrew  was  received  on  trial.  The  future  bishop  and 
destined  divider  of  the  world,  a  rustic  lad  of  nineteen, 
almost  wholly  unlettered  and  wholly  inexperienced, 
was  not  at  the  Conference,  but  awaited"  in  his  father's 
cabin  in  the  eastern  reaches  of  Georgia  the  scarcely 
hoped  for  tidings  that  he  had  been  accepted  as  an 
itinerant  Methodist  preacher.  The  potencies  which 
afterwards  burst  like  a  storm  about  the  head  of  this 
man,  and  dissevered  the  house  of  Methodism,  were 
then  lying  dormant  in  an  ill-shaped  and  an  ill-admin- 
istered rule  on  African  slavery.  The  age  which  might 
have  anticipated  and  prevented  the  distresses  of  a 
future  day  lacked  both  the  foresight  and  the  unity  de- 
manded by  its  opportunity.  But  the  room  of  history 
is  large. 

In  June,  181 3,  seeing  how  his  strength  ebbed,  As- 
bury  made  his  will,  naming  as  his  executors  Bishop 
McKendree,  Daniel  Hitt,  Book  Agent  of  the  Church, 
and  Henry  Boehm,  his  faithful  traveling  companion. 
His  estate,  as  he  himself  estimated  it,  was  worth  about 
two  thousand  dollars.  This  had  come  to  him  chiefly 
through  the  generosity  of  friends  in  Maryland.  The 
whole  sum  was  bequeathed  to  the  Book  Concern.  ''Let 
it  return,"  he  wrote,  "and  continue  to  aid  the  cause  of 
piety."  It  is  doing  its  work  to-day  in  the  apportioned 
publishing  funds  of  the  two  Episcopal  Methodisms, 

In  the  course  of  this  year's  Conference  visitations 
Asbury  began  to  see  the  advantages  of  McKendree's 
plan  for  a  cabinet  of  presiding  elders  in  making  the 
appointments,  'The  presiding  eldership  and  the  epis- 
copacy saw  eye  to  eye  in  tlie  business  of  the  stations," 


228  Francis  Asbury. 

he  wrote  about  this  time ;  "there  were  no  murmurings 
from  the  eighty- four  employed." 

This  was  the  Bishop's  last  full  year  of  work.  He 
completed  with  McKendree  the  round  of  the  inhabited 
republic,  except  the  territory  of  Mississippi,  and  he 
still  hoped  to  see  this ;  but  the  time  was  come  to  relax. 
He  had  ridden  five  thousand  miles  during  eight  months, 
and  had  done  the  work  of  a  bishop ;  but  "on  the  peace- 
ful banks  of  the  Saluda"  it  came  to  him  to  write  a 
valedictory  address  to  the  presiding  elders,  and  to  sig- 
nify to  his  colleague  that  henceforth  the  burden  was 
to  weigh  more  heavily  on  his  shoulders.  This  not  that 
he  meant  to  cease  altogether  from  labors,  but  that  he 
felt  himself  no  longer  able  to  bear  the  heavy  crown  of 
responsibility.  He  was  ripe  for  release,  but,  like  the 
aged  St.  John,  he  craved  the  joy  of  prophesying  to 
the  end.  It  was  during  this  year  that  he  met  for  the 
last  time  his  faithful  friend,  Otterbein.  The  two  ven- 
erable men  had  a  long  and  soulful  interview  and  an 
affectionate  leave-taking.  Shortly  after  this  the  great 
German  leader  was  gathered  to  his  fathers,  remem- 
bered as  a  great  and  faithful  leader. 

In  1814  Henry  Boehm  found  it  necessary  to  termi- 
nate the  arrangement  he  had  made  with  Bishop  Asbury 
to  be  his  traveling  companion.  For  five  years  he  had 
been  almost  constantly  at  the  side  of  the  Methodist 
patriarch,  and  had  come  to  know  and  share  as  few 
men  had  his  thought  and  confidence.  Many  years  aft- 
erwards, as  has  already  been  stated,  he  published  the 
notes  which  he  kept  during  his  long  attendance  upon 
the  heads  of  the  Church,  for  Bishop  McKendree  was 
seldom  himself  separated  from  his  colleague  in  his 
travels.     The  Boehm  reminiscences  have  been  most 


The  Sunset  Vision.  229 

helpful  in  filling  up  the  gaps  in  the  history  of  the  joint 
Asbury  and  McKendree  administration. 

Having  lost  the  services  of  Boelim,  Bishop  Asbury 
applied  to  the  Baltimore  Conference  for  the  detach- 
ment of  one  of  its  members  to  serve  him  in  that  stead. 
The  choice  fell  upon  John  Wesley  Bond.  The  selec- 
tion vi^as  happy  and  fitting,  and  brought  to  the  invalid 
during  the  remaining  days  of  his  life  a  congenial  com- 
panionship and  a  faithful  and  tender  ministry.  Both 
Calvary  and  the  Transfiguration  were  on  the  sufferer 
in  those  days.  *T  groan  one  minute  in  pain,  and  shout 
'Glory!'  the  next."  So  he  wrote,  and  so  it  was  with 
him. 

And  now  came  to  Asbury  a  sorrow  such  as  he  had 
not  felt  since  the  death  of  Wesley.  While  on  a  mis- 
sion voyage  to  India,  Thomas  Coke  died  and  was 
buried  in  the  Indian  Ocean,  eastward  off  the  Cape  of 
Good  Hope.  Bishop  Coke  is  not  only  entitled  to  be 
called  the  foreign  minister  of  Methodism,  but  his  claim 
to  a  place  amongst  the  very  first  and  greatest  missiona- 
ries of  the  world  is  beyond  dispute.  In  1813  he  com- 
pleted a  plan  for  planting  missionary  stations  across 
half  the  v/orld.  To  this  enterprise  he  pledged  his  pri- 
vate fortune,  which  was  not  small.  Also  he  succeeded 
in  committing  to  his  enterprise  a  goodly  number  of  his 
Wesleyan  brethren.  With  these,  having  obtained  the 
indorsement  of  the  British  Conference,  he  set  sail  in 
December  for  Ceylon ;  but  on  May  2,  18 14,  he  expired, 
and  his  body  was  given  the  sea  for  a  mausoleum.  His 
companions  went  on  with  the  enterprise,  and  estab- 
lished in  India  the  mission  stations  that  in  their  growth 
have  made  the  Wesleyan  Church  one  of  the  greatest 
missionary   forces  of  the  world.     The  news  of  the 


±'^0  Francis  Asbtiry, 

death  of  his  former  colleague  did  not  reach  Asbury 
until  many  months  after  it  occurred.  The  testimony 
which  he  bore  to  his  memory  was  characteristic  and 
eloquent.  In  his  journal  stand  these  words:  'Thomas 
Coke,  of  the  third  branch  of  Oxonian  Methodists ;  as 
a  minister  of  Christ,  in  zeal,  in  labors,  and  in  services, 
the  greatest  man  of  the  last  century." 

A  new  feature  of  comfort  was  added  to  Asbury's 
western  journey  in  the  year  1814.  Sometime  early 
in  the  year  friends  in  Philadelphia  presented  him  with, 
"a  light  four-wheeled  carriage."  This  was  the  "chaise" 
in  which  he  made  his  last  episcopal  visitation,  and  in 
which  he  rode  until  *'the  horsemen  of  Israel"  hailed 
him  for  the  ascent  of  the  skies. 

At  the  Ohio  Conference  he  attempted  to  preside, 
Bishop  McKendree  having  been  so  seriously  crippled 
by  a  fall  from  his  horse  as  not  to  be  able  to  be  present. 
The  task,  however,  proved  too  much  for  his  strength, 
so  he  resigned  both  the  chair  and  the  stations  into  the 
hands  of  John  Sale,  an  elder,  who  had  been  elected  by 
the  Conference  to  preside.  The  presbyter  easily  met 
the  demands  of  the  post.  The  success  of  this  neces- 
sary expedient  gave  Asbury  great  satisfaction.  "The 
Conferences  are  now  out  of  their  infancy,"  he  mused ; 
"their  rulers  can  now  be  called  from  amongst  them.- 
selves."  As  a  father  who,  unmindful  of  the  growth 
of  his  sons  that  move  about  him  from  day  to  day, 
awakes  from  a  life  dream  to  see  his  offspring  standing 
shoulder  to  shoulder  with  himself,  so  Asbury  awoke 
to  find  his  spiritual  sons  of  a  stature  that  he  had  not 
noted.  Except  in  worth  and  wisdom  of  soul,  there 
were  many  about  him  who  easily  overtopped  his  own 
venerable  head. 


The  Sunset  Vision.  2^t 

At  the  Tennessee  Conference,  a  month  later,  he 
stood  more  firmly  on  his  feet,  and  would  have  set  out 
from  that  point  for  the  far-away  Natchez  stations,  but 
Bishop  McKendree's  disabled  condition  rendered  such 
a  course  impossible.  Within  a  fortnight  Asbury's 
strength  had  again  failed,  and  he  was  admonished  that 
the  end  of  his  pilgrimage  was  near.  From  October, 
1 8 14,  to  October,  181 5,  he  dragged  a  constantly  halt- 
ing and  suffering  body  around  his  wonted  circuit  of 
six  to  eight  thousand  miles ;  but  it  was  no  more  to 
utter  the  voice  of  command,  but  to  say  farewells  to 
those  who  should  see  his  face  no  more.  Everywhere 
he  spoke  words  of  tenderness  and  warning,  and 
preached  the  message  of  perfect  love.  "The  time  is 
short,"  was  a  refrain  in  his  sermons  which  all  men 
remembered.  One  who  saw  him  about  this  time  wrote 
of  him.  thus :  "In  appearance  he  was  a  picture  of  plain- 
ness and  simplicity:  an  old  man  spare  and  tall,  but 
remarkably  clean,  with  a  plain  frock  coat,  drab  or 
mixed  waistcoat,  and  small  clothes  of  the  same  kind, 
a  neat  stock,  a  broad-brimmed  hat,  with  an  uncommon 
low  crown ;  while  his  white  locks,  venerable  with  age, 
added  a  simplicity  to  his  appearance  it  is  not  easy  to 
describe." 

True  to  his  practical  Instincts,  even  in  these  totter- 
ing days,  he  carried  around  the  continent  his  favorite 
"mite"  subscription  list  for  the  relief  of  the  ministry — ■ 
a  feeble  but  well-meant  means  for  supplying  the  gigan- 
tic defects  of  a  primitive  and  mistakenly  conceived 
system  of  Church  finance. 

Nearing  the  seaboard  in  181 5,  he  learned  with  joy 
of  the  treaty  of  peace  which  ended  the  second  war 
with  Great  Britain.     A  few  days  later  his  patriotic 


232  Prancis  Asbury. 

resentment  was  stirred  by  a  sight  of  the  charred  ruins 
of  the  President's  house  and  the  Capitol  at  Washing- 
ton. Twice  had  his  heart — once  in  his  prime  and  then 
in  his  old  age — supported  contending  emotions  of  love 
and  loyalty  for  his  native  land  and  the  land  of  his 
adoption ;  and  this  also  had  brought  him  a  measure  of 
perfection. 

Passing  through  Virginia,  he  had  been  entertained 
by  the  fourth  generation  of  the  Jarratts,  whose  fellow- 
ship awakened  within  him  memories  of  the  early  re- 
vival which  in  a  time  of  trial  had  strengthened  his  soul 
and  fixed  his  purpose  to  remain  in  America.  Now  he 
saw  again  'Terry  Hall,"  and  for  the  last  time  rested 
his  weary  body  within  its  hallowed  walls.  Some  weeks 
later  he  was  at  Croton,  in  the  State  of  New  York,  the 
home  of  his  great  and  influential  friend,  Governor  Van 
Cortlandt ;  but  the  mighty  man  of  faith  and  deeds  had 
gone  to  his  rest.  A  voice  was  speaking  above  the 
sleeping  dust,  but  a  living  voice  called  the  weary  apos- 
tle onward.  The  cessation  of  war  had  again  opened 
the  gate  to  Canada,  and  he  had  already  laid  special 
plans  for  the  rehabilitation  of  the  work  beyond  the  St. 
Lawrence.  At  the  New  England  Conference,  which 
he  had  undertaken  to  hold  in  the  absence  of  Bishop 
McKendree,  he  was  unable  to  preside,  and  George 
Pickering  filled  the  chair,  and  sat  with  the  cabinet  in 
stationing  the  preachers. 

By  a  shortened  line  of  travel  the  Bishop  and  his 
companion  returned  to  Maryland,  where  he  completed 
the  revision  of  his  journal.  Of  this  journal  he  says: 
"As  a  record  of  the  early  history  of  Methodism  in 
America,  it  will  be  of  use,  and,  accompanied  by  the 
Minutes  of  the  Conference,  will  tell  all  that  will  be 


The  Sunset  Vision.  233 

necessary  to  know.  I  have  buried  in  shades  all  that 
will  be  proper  to  forget." 

The  summertide  was  now  at  its  height,  and  the 
genial  sunshine  had  stayed  a  little  the  course  of  his  mal- 
ady. He  rallied  perceptibly,  and  entered  upon  his  last 
journey  to  the  West  in  comparative  comfort  of  body ; 
but  the  winds  of  autumn  that  met  him  in  the  distant 
Ohio  Valley  quickly  relegated  him  to  his  former  con- 
dition of  all  but  helpless  invalidism.  Blistering  and 
bleeding  were  his  remedies  for  anaemia  and  inanition. 
Unbelievable  empiricism !  Incredible  credulity  of  the 
age !  But  suffering  many  things  both  of  his  disorders 
and  his  physicians,  the  uncomplaining  invalid  crept  on, 
distributing  Testaments  when  he  could  not  preach  and 
disbursing  amongst  his  needy  brethren  the  mite  fund 
which  he  had  collected  with  infinite  patience  and  zeal. 

While  journeying  from  Ohio  toward  the  seat  of  the 
Tennessee  Conference  through  the  succession  of  rich 
valleys  that  made  the  virgin  land,  he  heard  voices  call- 
ing through  the  soft  autumn  winds,  and  saw  doors' 
opening  through  the  glory  of  blue  horizons  and 
through  uplooming  hills,  dappled  with  the  hues  of 
changing  foliage.  'This  western  part  of  the  empire," 
he  said  to  McKendree,  "will  be  the  glory  of  America. 
There  should  be  five  Conferences  marked  out  here." 
One  of  his  later  successors  in  office,  commenting  on 
these  words,  says :  "Where  he  would  have  been  con- 
tent with  five  Conferences,  we  now  have  fifty."  So 
have  the  people  called  Methodists  multiplied  and  re- 
plenished the  lands.  But  the  voices  which  Asbury 
heard  and  the  visions  which  he  saw  did  not  deceive 
him ;  he  saw  the  future  unfold  its  wonders,  but  he  saw 
not  all. 


i34  Francis  Asbury. 

The  Tennessee  Conference  session  fell  at  Bethle- 
hem, near  Lebanon,  in  the  early  days  of  October,  1815. 
It  was  Asbury's  last  Conference.  He  arrived  in  his 
chaise  in  good  time,  but  was  unable  either  to  preside 
or  to  arrange  the  stations.  He  preached  on  the  Sab- 
bath and  ordained  the  deacons.  With  that  he  laid 
down  the  episcopal  office.  His  journal  carries  the  sad 
record  in  these  words:  "My  eyes  fail;  I  resign  the 
stations  to  Bishop  McKendree;  I  will  take  away  my 
feet." 

One  earthly  wish  remained.  It  was  to  meet  the  Gen- 
eral Conference  called  to  sit  In  Baltimore  the  follow- 
ing May.  For  the  long  journey  thither  he  husbanded 
his  strength.  Nearly  two  scores  of  times  he  had  scaled 
the  Appalachian  barriers.  For  thirty-one  successive 
years,  with  a  single  break,  he  had  visited  the  valleys 
of  the  Holston  and  the  Cumberland.  They  were  to  him 
what  Hebron  was  to  Caleb — a  southland  with  springs 
of  water.  But  now  from  the  heights  of  "the  Alps" 
he  took  his  last  view  of  them.  A  sigh  of  regret  and 
a  shout  of  triumph  mingled  his  emotions,  and  he  set 
his  face  toward  Maryland,  after  having  foregone  his 
dream  of  a  midvv'inter  rest  in  Charleston. 

During  his  slow  progress  through  South  Carolina 
he  completed  as  far  as  he  was  able  an  address  for  the 
General  Conference  and  a  communication  to  Bishop 
McKendree.  He  also  dictated  a  lengthy  letter  to  Rev. 
Joseph  Benson,  of  the  English  Conference,  the  origi- 
nal of  which  Is  now  In  my  possession  In  the  hand  of 
an  amanuensis.  As  It  was  unsigned,  It  Is  almost  cer- 
tain that  it  was  never  transmitted  to  the  great  com- 
mentator. 

The  last  entry  made  in  his  journal  was  on  Decem- 


The  Sunset  Vision.  235 

ber  7,  181 5  ;  but  it  was  the  twentieth  day  of  the  month 
before  he  finally  abandoned  the  hope  of  reaching 
Charleston  and  turned  northward.  He  was  then  near 
the  middle  of  the  State  of  South  Carolina ;  but  though 
he  traveled  as  the  weather  and  his  strength  permitted, 
so  feeble  was  he  and  so  frequently  was  his  companion 
constrained  to  halt  that  he  might  rest,  they  reached 
Richmond,  Va.,  only  at  the  end  of  three  months.  Fre- 
quently during  this  stage  of  his  journey  he  attempted 
to  preach,  but  his  voice  was  too  weak  to  be  heard  ex- 
cept by  those  near  his  person.  However,  having  ar- 
rived at  Richmond  with  his  traveling  companion,  on 
Monday,  March  18,  he  announced  his  purpose  to  speak 
to  the  congregation  in  the  old  meetinghouse  on  the 
following  Sabbath.  Friends  undertook  to  dissuade 
him  from  this  course,  but  his  reply  was  that  he  had 
a  special  call  to  give  his  testimony  in  that  place.  Strong 
and  loyal  hands  lifted  him  into  his  carriage  and  he  was 
driven  to  the  door  of  the  sanctuary  he  loved.  Again 
he  was  tenderly  lifted  and  borne  into  the  church,  where 
a  chair  had  been  placed  for  him  upon  a  table  within 
the  chancel.  Thus  seated  he  discoursed  for  nearly  an 
hour,  and  with  surprisingly  sustained  voice  and  power, 
from  Romans  ix.  28 :  "For  he  will  finish  the  work,  and 
cut  it  short  in  righteousness :  because  a  short  work  will 
the  Lord  make  upon  the  earth."  It  was  his  last  sermon 
— in  fact,  his  last  public  ministration  of  any  kind. 
When  the  feebly  kindled  glow  of  action  left  his  frame, 
the  chill  of  death  set  in.  But  the  hope — the  purpose — to 
reach,  ere  death  should  seal  his  eyes,  the  green  shores 
of  the  Chesapeake  still  reigned  in  the  soul  of  the  saint 
and  patriot.  During  the  next  five  days,  riding  in  their 
closed  carriage,  he  and  his  companion  covered  fifty- 


236  Francis  Asbiiry, 

seven  additional  miles  of  their  way.  The  final  halt 
was  made  at  the  home  of  George  Arnold,  an  old  and 
often  visited  friend.  The  place  was  twenty  miles  short 
of  the  city  of  Fredericksburg,  which  the  travelers  had 
hoped  to  reach  by  the  succeeding  Sabbath.  On  Satur- 
day the  Bishop  showed  extreme  feebleness,  and  passed 
a  restless  night,  but  refused  to  permit  the  calling  of  a 
physician.  Early  the  next  day  he  frankly  expressed 
his  belief  that  the  end  was  at  hand.  Being  asked  by 
his  companion  if  he  had  any  word  to  leave  for  the 
Conference  or  his  colleague,  his  reply  was  that  he  had 
already  written  and  spoken  so  fully  that  further  word 
was  unnecessary. 

Asking  the  hour  of  the  day,  and  being  told  that  it 
was  the  hour  of  eleven,  he  requested  that  the  family 
and  his  companion  gather  in  his  chamber  for  worship. 
Strangely  and  significantly  enough,  the  Scripture  les- 
son for  the  evening  of  that  day  in  the  Sunday  service 
was  the  last  chapter  of  the  Revelation.  This  chapter 
Bond  read  and  expounded,  the  closing  lesson  of  the 
day  closing  the  days  of  the  labors  of  that  faithful,  sim- 
ple life.  "During  the  whole  of  the  meeting,"  wrote 
Bond,  ''his  soul  seemed  much  engaged.  He  appeared 
much  elevated,  and  raised  his  hands  frequently  in  token 
of  triumph."  Truly  affecting  was  his  direction  given 
to  Bond  to  "read  the  mite  subscription,"  thus  showing 
that  he  remembered  the  toiling  missionaries  even  in  his 
dying  moments.  Being  told  that  only  the  family  was 
present,  he  said  no  more.  His  voice  had  failed.  Asked 
if  he  still  found  the  Master  precious,  he  lifted  his  hands 
toward  heaven,  and  "then,  without  a  groan  or  a  com- 
plaint," yielded  up  his  spirit  to  God.  The  solemn  scene 
was  closed  on  the  moment  of  four  o'clock  in  the  after- 


The  Sunset  Vision.  237 

noon  of  the  Sabbath,  March  31,   1816,  as  is  learned 
from  the  letter  of  Bond  to  Bishop  McKendree. 

He  was  buried,  with  simple  undertaking  and  cere- 
mony, in  the  family  burying  ground  of  his  host  and 
friend,  George  Arnold,  and  only  a  few  rods  from  the 
door  of  the  cottage  in  which  he  expired.  A  month, 
later,  when  the  General  Conference  met  in  Baltimore, 
plans  were  completed  to  have  his  body  exhumed"^  and 
buried  in  a  grave  under  the  pulpit  of  Eutaw  Street 
Church,  in  Bahimore.  On  the  9th  of  May  the  body 
arrived  under  escort  of  Philip  Bruce,  Nelson  Reed, 
Freeborn  Garrettson,  Lewds  Myers,  and  George  Pick- 
ering. A  guard  of  honor  was  detailed  from  the  Con- 
ference to  watch  the  casket  that  night,  during  which 
time  it  rested  in  Light  Street  Church.    The  next  day 

*In  June  of  the  year  1907,  under  the  direction  of  Rev. 
Charles  D.  Bulla,  pastor  of  the  Church  at  Alexandria,  Va., 
the  Epworth  Leaguers  of  the  Washington  District,  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  South,  erected  upon  the  site  of  the  George 
Arnold  house  a  marble  marker  to  which  it  is  hoped  in  the  not 
distant  future  to  add  an  equestrian  statue  of  the  "Pioneer 
Bishop."  Dr.  Bulla  gives  the  following  account  of  the  pil- 
grimage and  transaction:  "It  was  at  Fredericksburg  that  our 
Leaguers  of  the  Washington  District  met  June  25,  1907.  All 
that  was  needed  to  make  a  good  Conference  was  there — a 
goodly  number,  a  cordial  welcome,  hospitality  at  its  best,  a 
carefully  arranged  program,  every  speaker  present  and  pre- 
pared. There  was  also  spirit  in  everything,  not  a  dull  moment 
from  beginning  to  end,  and  enough  in  reserve  for  double  the 
time.  It  was  an  Asburian  Conference  and  Pilgrimage.  Early 
Thursday  morning,  June  27,  conveyances  carried  our  League 
pilgrims  to  Spottsylvania  Courthouse,  twelve  miles  southwest 
of  Fredericksburg.  We  journeyed  on  four  miles  to  the  south- 
west of  Spottsylvania  Courthouse  to  the  site  of  the  George  Ar- 
nold house.     The  Leaguers  of  the  Washington  District  had 


238  Francis  Ashury. 

a  solemn  procession  of  twenty  thousand  people,  led 
by  Bishop  McKendree  and  William  Black,  the  repre- 
sentative of  British  Methodism  to  the  General  Confer- 
ence, followed  the  holy  dust  to  its  new  resting  place. 
Of  kindred  in  blood,  there  was  none  to  mourn;  but 
Henry  Boehm  and  John  Wesley  Bond,  his  "sons"  in 
long  and  dutiful  ministries,  stood  by  the  coffin  as  chief 
mourners,  while  thousands  of  hearts  besides  in  silence 
reverenced  with  mingled  sorrow  and  gladness  the  mem- 
ory of  the  illustrious  dead.  Bishop  McKendree  deliv- 
ered a  brief  discourse,  ''full  of  pathos  and  embracing 
some  of  the  leading  facts  of  his  history  and  traits  of 
character,"  after  which  the  casket  was  lowered  into  the 
vault.  In  June,  1854,  the  remains  of  Asbury  were 
again  disinterred  and  buried  in  Mount  Olivet  Ceme- 

secured  the  plot  of  ground  on  which  the  house  stood  and 
erected  upon  it  a  granite  marker  five  feet  in  height  bearing 
this  inscription: 

ON    THIS    SPOT 

STOOD  THE  HOME   OF  GEORGE  ARNOLD^ 

WHERE 

BISHOP  FRANCIS  ASBURY 

DIED   MARCH  3I,    1816. 

ERECTED    BY    THE   EPWORTH    LEAGUES 

OF  THE  WASHINGTON   DISTRICT, 

BALTIMORE    CONFERENCE,     METHODIST     EPISCOPAL    CHURCH, 

SOUTH,   DECEMBER,    I906. 

In  the  shade  of  a  large  walnut  tree  we  held  our  service.  We 
sang  John  Wesley's  noble  lyric,  'How  happy  is  the  pilgrim's 
lot;'  read  the  twenty-first  chapter  of  Revelation,  the  scripture 
expounded  by  John  Wesley  Bond,  at  Bishop  Asbury's  request, 
the  day  he  died;  an  address  on  the  'Life  and  Character  of 
P>ancis  Asbury,'  another  on  the  'Gospel  Ministry;'  conclud- 
ing with  a  consecration  service  in  which  a  large  number  par- 
ticipated." 


The  Sunset  Vision.  239 

tery,  Baltimore,  where  are  the  graves  of  Robert  Straw- 
bridge  and  Jesse  Lee,  as  also  those  of  not  a  few  others 
of  Methodism's  unforgotten  dead. 

Speech  cannot  perfectly  portray  the  lineaments  of 
the  righteous,  nor  make  wholly  real  to  thought  the 
miracles  of  their  deeds  and  sacrifices.  The  martyrs 
and  confessors  are  but  little  perceived  aside  from  the 
nimbuses  and  aureoles  that  encompass  them.  The 
spiritual,  the  world-changing  forces  that  informed  the 
souls  of  the  mighty  dead  are  elusive  to  our  busy  and 
too  often  enslaved  thoughts.  St.  Paul  is  better  known 
to  the  average  Christian  by  his  long  travels,  the  scour- 
gings  which  he  received,  and  the  imprisonments  which 
he  suffered  than  by  his  doctrines  or  the  silent  mastery 
of  his  deathless  soul.  Perhaps  it  comes  of  human  lim- 
itations— our  necessary  dependence  upon  the  tangible 
as  a  means  of  reaching  the  unseen,  the  spiritual.  Fran- 
cis Asbury  has  been  dead  less  than  a  century;  but  it 
is  only  the  picture  of  the  pioneer  Bishop  tirelessly  tra- 
cing the  continent  on  horseback,  in  sulky,  or  in  chaise 
that  popularly  survives.  The  apostolic  spirit  that,  mov- 
ing from  land  to  land,  drew  about  it  the  destinies  of 
a  mighty  people,  and  shaped,  to  an  extent  which  the 
hands  of  none  other  were  permitted  to  shape,  a  civili- 
zation Christian  at  heart  because  that  heart  was 
preached  into  it — that  spirit  is  but  faintly  seen  by  mod- 
ern American  eyes.  Two  hundred  and  seventy  thou- 
sand miles  he  traveled  during  his  episcopate,  preached 
sixteen  thousand  sermons,  ordained  four  thousand 
ministers,  and  sat  as  the  president  of  two  hundred  and 
twenty-four  Annual  Conferences.  Prodigious  accom- 
plishment! And  yet  it  is  beyond  even  this  circum- 
stance of  figures  that  we  must  seek  the  true  Asbury, 


240  Francis  Asbury. 

The  circuit  of  his  power  and  influence  is  to  the  ends 
of  our  history ;  and  though  it  cannot  be  so  confidently 
said  of  him  as  Southey  said  of  Wesley,  that  millen- 
niums hence  the  influence  of  his  life  and  work  will  be 
felt  and  acknowledged,  the  days  that  shall  witness  to 
him  are  yet  many  in  the  centuries  to  be. 


^O 


INDEX, 


Abingdon,  124,  129,  138. 

African  slavery,  no,  in,  134, 
213,  214. 

Aldersgate,  26. 

Allen,  Beverly,  134. 

Andrew,  Bishop,  227. 

Annual  Conferences :  Prophe- 
sied, 159;  evolution  of,  163, 
166;  (1807),  203;  (1808), 
209;  (1809),  212,  213,  214, 
217;  .(1810),  218,  219; 
(i8n),  220,  221;  (1812), 
226;  (1813),  227;  (1814), 
230. 

Appalachians,  105,  145,  104. 

Arnold,  George,  236,  237. 

Articles:  Thirty-Nine,  27; 
Twenty-Five,  127. 

Asbury:  Claims  on  Church 
and  nation,  6 ;  birth  and  child- 
hood, 9,  10;  parentage,  10, 
II ;  religious  bent,  11 ;  educa- 
tion, 13;  enters  service,  14; 
apprenticed,  15,  37;  intellec- 
tual powers,  17,  43;  appear- 
ance in  youth,  18;  conver- 
sion, 20,  35;  reticence,  23; 
licensed  to  preach,  37;  early 
ministry,  31 ;  circuits  trav- 
eled, 27;  finishes  apprentice- 
ship, 37;  assistant,  38;  char- 
acter of  preaching,  38;^  in 
favor  with  Wesley,  39;  limi- 
tations, 40;  knowledge  of 
Hebrew  and  Greek,  41 ;  offers 
for  America,  38,  47;  sails, 
42 ;  taste,  43 ;  writer  of  verse, 
46;  voyage  to  America,  47; 
debarks  at  Philadelphia,  49, 
50;  Church  owes  itinerancy 
to,  50;  first  circuit,  51 ;  exam- 
ple, 51,  52;  goes  into  Mary- 
land, 53;  to  New  York,  53, 
54;    appointed    General    As- 

16 


sistant,  54;  desires  to  found 
college,  55;  in  Maryland,  57, 
58,  82;  enforces  disciplme, 
61 ;  writes  to  Wesley,  61 ; 
activity,  62;  triumphs  in 
Rankin,  64;  hungers  for  per- 
fection, 67 ;  misunderstanding 
with  Rankin,  75,  76:  is  fined 
for  preaching  without  civil 
license,  82,  83;  at  Warm 
Springs,  83,  84;  at  Annapolis, 
84,    85,    87;    joint    Assistant, 

87,  88;    exiled    in   Delaware, 

88,  89,  92 ;  calls  a  Conference, 
92,  93 ;  before  Virginia  Con- 
ference, 97,  98;  secures  re- 
union of  societies,  98,  102; 
takes  general  oversight  of 
whole  work,  99,  100,  109;  be- 
comes an  American,  99,  102, 
108;  new  task,  103,  104;  finds 
new  mission  field,  105;  writes 
account  of  Methodist  move- 
ment, 107;  reappointed  by 
Wesley,  112;  personality, 
113,  114,  117,  119;  picture  of, 
118;  first  meeting  with  Coke, 
120;  calls  council  of  preach- 
ers, 121,  122;  elected  bishop, 
or  general  superintendent, 
126;  ordained,  126,  127;  first 
episcopal  tour,  130,  131,  132, 
133,  134;  alone  in  episcopacy, 
135 ;  takes  first  missionary 
collection,  137;  enters  West- 
ern settlements,  139;  tour  of 
1787,  144,  14s;  receives  letter 
of  rebuke  from  Wesley,  147; 
opposes  a  General  Conference, 
148,  149;  favors  a  council, 
IJ9,  150;  his  move  for  edu- 
cation, 151,  152;  enters  New 
England,  153,  i54;  defers  to 
General      Conference,      157; 

(241) 


>42 


Francis  Asbury. 


position  strengthened,  159, 
162;  prolonged  sickness,  173, 
174;  reasons  for  celibacy, 
191 ;  estimate  of  as  a  preach- 
er, 196,  197;  makes  a  dis- 
covery, 200;  grounds  of  epis- 
copacy, 202;  rejoices  in  the 
camp  meeting,  210;  idea  of 
episcopacy,  212;  refinement 
of,  216,  217;  distributes 
tracts,  220;  goes  into  Cana- 
da, 221 ;  address  to  General 
Conference,  224;  lost  full 
year  of  work,  228 ;  resigns 
the  Conferences,  231 ;  fare- 
wells, 231;  appearance,  231; 
revises  journal,  232;  utters 
prophecy,  22,3 ;  last  Confer- 
ence, 233;  last  messages, 
233;  last  entry  in  journal, 
233,  234;  last  sermon,  235; 
death,  236;  burial,  237,  238; 
remains  disinterred,  238, 
239;  estimate  of,  240;  sum- 
mary of  labors,  240. 

Ashgrove,  188,  189. 

"Assistant  Bishops,"   170,  207. 

"A   thirty-dollar   chaise,"   212. 

Atmore's   Journal,   200. 

Bailey,  Edward,   loi,  102. 

Ball,  Mary,   139. 

Baltimore,  59,  60,  67. 

Baltimore  Conference  as  "Up- 
per House,"  148. 

Barrett's  Chapel,  120,  214,  215. 

Bassett,  Gov.  Richard,  200,  215. 

Benson,  Joseph,  63,  233. 

Bishop's  Cabinet,  211,  227. 

"Black  Harry,"    122. 

Black,   William,  238. 

Blackman,  Learner,  219. 

Boardman,  Richard,  49,  50,  52, 
54,  55,  64. 

Boehm,  209,  212,  218,  227,  228, 
238. 

Bohemia  Manor,  107. 

Bond,  J.  W.,  229,  236,  238. 

Book  Concern,  137,  139,  227. 


Bromwich    Heath,   36. 

Bromwich,  West,  23. 

"Brown  Bread  Preachers,"  42, 

43- 
Bruce,   Philip,  206,  237. 
Buckle,   113. 
Bulla,  C.  D.,  237. 

"Calm  Address,"  Wesley's,  81. 

Camp  meetings,  183,  184,  210. 

Capers,  Bishop,  213. 

Carroll,  Mr.,  68. 

Cartwright,   Peter,  219. 

Choptank,  104. 

Christmas  Conference  (see  also 
Conference),  109,  112,  113, 
123,  125,  129,  130,  136,  142; 
considered  as  first  General 
Conference,  156,  157,  159, 
164,    167. 

Church  of  England  (see  Es- 
tablishment). 

Circulation  of  preachers,  51, 
139. 

Coke,  Dr.  Thomas,  102,  114; 
commissioned  by  Wesley  to 
America,  115;  ordained,  116; 
118,  120,  121,  122,  124,  125, 
126,  127,  128,  130,  13s,  140, 
141,  146,  147,  152,  153,  157, 
159,  160,  163,  169,  171,  173, 
177,  190,  199,  201,  202,  208, 
209,  213,  215,  225,  229,  230, 

Cokesbury,  135,  136,  151,  152, 
183. 

Communicants,  Methodist,  49, 
107,  112,  139,  189,  202,  204, 
219. 

Conference,  first  in  America 
(1773),  64;  second  (1774), 
69;  third  (1775),  74;  fourth 
(1776),  81;  fifth  (1777),  86; 
sixth  (1778),  90;  seventh 
(1779,  two  sessions),  91, 
94;  (1780),  Northern,  96; 
(1780),  Southern,  97,  98; 
(1781),  104;  (17S2),  108, 
109;  (1783),  no,  in;  (1784), 
112;  Christmas,  125;  first  of 


Index. 


243 


Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
133;  (1785),  136,  138;  (1786), 
138;  Coke  changes  date  of 
(1787),  140,  141;  (1788), 
144;  (1789),  146;  (1790), 
150;  (1791),  153;  (1792), 
155,  161;  (1793),  163,  164; 
(1794),  164,  165;  (1795), 
166;  consohdated,  169,  170; 
(1796),  167;  (1797),  173; 
(1798),  174;  (1799),  174, 
175;  (1800),  182;  (1801), 
184;  (1802),  186;  (1803), 
188;  (1804),  190,  194; 
(1805),  197,  198. 

Confession,  127,  192. 

Congress,    Continental,   74. 

Constitution,  205,  206,  223. 

Cooper,  Ezekiel,   192,  206. 

Cornwallis,  General,  99,  102. 

Council,  The,  149,  150,  151,  152, 
153,  158,  224. 

Creighton,  Rev.   Mr.,  116. 

Curnick,   24. 

Dallam,  83,  124,  161. 
Davies,  Rev.  Mr.,  55. 
Deacon,  Office  of,  127,  129. 
Debt  of   Maryland   to   Asbury, 

55. 
Deer  Creek,  86,  90,  109,  218. 
Deism,  56,  84. 
Delegated  General  Conference, 

206,  221,  223. 
De  Peyster,  Miss,  188. 
Dickins,    John,    112,    118,    137, 

142,   174,  192. 
Discipline,    Book   of,    125,    127, 

130,    136,    138,    142,    147,    159, 

170,   177,  192. 
Dow,  Lorenzo,  174. 
Dromgoole,  Edward,  87. 

Elder,  Office  of,  127,  129. 
Electoral   Conference,  201. 
Ellis's    Preaching    House,    108, 

no. 
Embury,  Philip,  49,  51,  52,  188. 
Engles,  215. 


English  Conference,  225. 
Episcopal  Address,  223. 
EstabHshment,  EngHsh,  33,  100, 

112,  114,  116,  135. 
Eutaw  Street  Church,  237. 
Evans,  Henry,  198. 
Experience,  25,  210. 

Fitchett,  71. 

Fletcher,  John,  24,  114,  163. 
Fluvanna  Conference,  91 ;  pres- 
bytery, 94,  95. 
Foster,  James,  80. 
Fulton,  Robert,  215. 

Garrettson,  Freeborn,  82,  90, 
92,  106,  122,  141,  158,  166, 
167,  237. 

Gatch,  Philip,  87,  94. 

Gates,  General,  99,   102. 

General  Conference,  first  sug- 
gested, III,  148,  156;  South- 
ern, 156,  157,  167,  169,  177, 
178,  181,  182,  185,  191,  192, 
218,  219. 

General     Superintendent,     142, 

143,  157. 
George,  Enoch,  205. 
Gibson,  Tobias,  165,  196. 
Glendenning,  William,  87. 
Go  ugh,  68,  83,  86,  103,  161,  182, 

195,  208,  209,  214. 
Governing  Committee,  86,  94. 
Gregory,  215,  224. 
Gwin,  James,  219,  221,  223,  233, 

239. 

Haeck,  188. 

Hammett,   William,    152. 
Hampstead  Bridge,  9,  36. 
Hartley,  Joseph,  80,  84,  90. 
Haweis,  24. 
Hedding,  Elijah,  205. 
Hickson,  Woolam,   133. 
Hill,  Rev.  Green,  133,  161. 
Hillsboro,  loi,  no. 
Hinde,  Dr.,  190. 
History  of    Methodism,   Lee's, 
220. 


244 


Francis  Asbury. 


Hitt,  Daniel,  227. 
Holston,  III,  130,  145,  167. 
Hooper,  Christopher,  63. 
Hugo,  Victor,  202. 
Hull,  Hope,  155,  158,  163,  175. 
Huntingdon,  Countess  of,  24. 
Hurst,  Bishop,  140. 
Hymn  Book,  204. 

Icelandic  spar,  5. 
Indian  hostilities,  155. 

Jarratt,  Rev.   Mr.,  80,  96,   100, 

107,  108,  185,  232. 
Jefferson,  Thomas,  197. 
John   Street  Church,  223. 

Kentucky,  138,  164,  182, 
King,  Robert,  52. 

Lafayette,  General,   167. 

Lay  preaching,  33,  35. 

Lee,  Jesse,  77,  in,  122,  132, 
154,  158,  165,  168,  174,  175, 
^77,   i79»  181,  182,  201,  239. 

Lee,  Richard  Henry,   166. 

Lee,  Wilson,  187,  196. 

Leesburg,  90,  91. 

Lewis,  Col.  Meriwether,  190. 

Liberty  Hall,  74. 

Light  Street  Church,  156,  237. 

Liturgy,  122,  127. 

"Louisiana  Purchase,"  190. 

Lovely  Lane  Meetinghouse, 
125- 

Magna  Charta  of  Methodism, 
118,  121,  122,  123,  125. 

Manikintown,   104. 

Maryland,   55,   56. 

McGaw,  Rev.  Mr.,  95,  96,  119. 

McKendrce,  Bishop,  158,  159, 
182,  187,  193,  196,  200,  205, 
207,  208,  214,  217,  219,  221, 
222,  223,  225,  226,  227,  228, 
230,  231,  232,  233,  237,  238. 

McKendree   Church,   226. 

Methodism,  springing  of  in 
America,   49;    new    era,   99; 


pohty  of,  103;  close  of  its 
colonial  period,  112;  episco- 
pal, 117,  134;  its  propaganda, 

137. 
Methodist     Episcopal     Church 

organized,    126. 
Ministers,  Evangelical,  33. 
Minutes,  125,  127,  130,  140,  147. 
Missions  to  slaves,  213. 
Moravian      settlements,       no, 

203. 
Morrell,  Thomas,  146,  158. 
Mount    Olivet    Cemetery,    238, 

239- 
Mount  Vernon,   134. 
Mudge,    165. 
Myers,  Lewis,  237. 

Napoleon,  190. 
Nashville,  in,  183. 
Natchez,  165. 
Nelson,  John,  34,  35. 
New  England,  52, 
New  York,  53. 
Norfolk,  76,  77,  79. 

Oglethorpe,   163. 

O'Kelley,   James,   90,    lOi,    150, 

158,  161,  184,  187. 
Ordinances,  90;  administration 

of    suspended,    98,    109,    123, 

131- 
Ordination,  Wesleyan,  116,  117, 

128. 
Ostrander,   165. 
Otterbein,  68,  69,  84,   127,   187, 

209,  210,  228. 
Oxford  Methodists,   131. 

Peddicord,  90. 

Perfect  love,  21. 

"Perry  Hall,"  68,  86,  102,  103, 

125,  136,   169,   182,  214,  232. 
Petrine  primacy,   118. 
Pettigrew,  Rev.  Charles,  106. 
Philadelphia,  49,   106. 
Pickering,   George,   232,   237. 
Pilmoor,    Joseph.    49,    52,    64, 

168. 


Index. 


245 


Pioneer  communities,  6. 

Poythress,  80, 

Prayer     Book     (see     "Sunday 

Service"). 
Prayer,  Day  of,  75,  82. 
Preacher,  Early  Methodist,  31, 

32. 
Presiding    eldership,    126,    127, 

128,  196,  211,  222. 
Primitive  Church,  123,  126. 

Quarterly  meeting,  first  in 
America,  59;  "Conferences," 
106,  107. 

Rankin,  Thomas,  63,  64.  69,  70, 
75,  78,  81,  86,  87,  88,  90,  208. 

Reed,  Nelson,  141,  158,  237. 

Reformation,  27. 

Rembert,  Col.  James,  161. 

Rembert  Hall,  161,  196. 

Revival,  Wesleyan,  30;  in  Vir- 
ginia, 78,  79,  107;  general, 
151,  181,  212. 

Revolution,  War  of,  94,  99, 
108,  146. 

Richards,  Thomas,  34. 

Ridgeley,  Capt.  Charles,  68. 

Roberts,  Robert  R.,  165,  175, 
205. 

Rodda,  Martin,  87. 

Ruff,  Daniel,  87. 

Rush,  Dr.,  221. 

Russell,  General,  145,  161,  167. 

Sacerdotalism,   100. 
Sacramental     controversy,     90, 

91 ;  end  of,  98,  100,  104,  108. 
St.  George's  Church,  52,  64,  65, 

66. 
Schools,   Primary,   151,   152. 
Shadford,   G.,   79,  87,  88.    107, 

208. 
Snethen,  Nicholas,  184. 
Soule,  Joshua,  in,  205,  206. 
Steamboat,  215. 
Stevens,  Dr.  Abel,  156,  165. 
Strawbridge,  Robert,  49.  52,  66. 
Strickland,  Dr.,  44. 


Sunday  schools,  151. 
"Sunday  Service,"  122,  127,  130, 
131. 

Taylor,   165. 

Theolog}^  Wesleyan,  26,  100. 
Tiffin,  Governor,   190. 
Transfer  system,   198. 

Van  Cortlandt,  Governor,    161, 

167,  232. 
Vasey,  Thomas,   116,    118,    123, 

126,  128. 
Venn,  24. 

War  note,  74. 

Warfields,  The,  166. 

Washington,  General,  134,  146, 
167,    175,    176. 

Watters,  Nicholas,  196. 

Watters,  William,  86,  87,  90, 
91,  94. 

Webb,  Captain,  49,  51,  52,  63. 

Wednesbury,  24,  2^. 

Wesley,   Charles,  33. 

Wesley,  John,  22,  81,  98,  100, 
109,  112,  114,  115,  116,  117, 
118,  141,  142,  147,  148,  152, 
163,  169,  176,  200,  202. 

Wesleyan   Conference,  63,    115, 

173,   177. 
Wesleyanism,  25. 
Westall,  Thomas,  34. 
Whatcoat,    Richard,    116,    118, 

123,    126,    128,    141,    179,    193- 

194,  197,  200,  201. 
White,  Judge,  89,  93. 
White,  Rev.  Dr.,  119,  161,  166. 
Whitefield,  24,  33. 
Whitney,  Eli,  186. 
Whitworth,  Abraham,  65. 
Williams,  Robert,  52,  76,  77,  80. 
Williamsburg,  no. 
Willis,  Henry,  131,  132. 
Wofford  College,   152. 
Wright,  Richard,  47,  52,  168. 

Yadkin,  no. 
Yearbry,  Joseph,  65. 


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